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A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS 


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CHICAGO: 

Rand, McNally & Company, Publishers, 

148, 150, 152 AND 154 MONROE STREET; and 
323 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 

1888. 



Copyright, 1888, by Rand, McNally & Co. 



A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


CHAPTER I. 

I am junior partner in the house of Hopkins 
& Co., manufacturing jewelers, Maiden Lane. 
The senior of the firm is my father, Mr. John 
Hopkins, who established the business many 
years ago in a small way in a suburban town 
noted for its manufactures in this line. As the 
business grew larger, like most of his competi- 
tors, he opened a city office and salesroom in 
room in “ the Lane,” in which, after leaving 
school at eighteen, with a preference for a mer- 
cantile rather than a college and professional 
career, I was promptly installed, first as a general 
clerk and later as assistant manager. My father 
still retained chief control both at the factory 
and store, in each of which he passed a part of 
every day. Three years ago, after having passed 
a sort of apprenticeship at the store for four 
years, I was duly announced as a partner in 
the house and assumed more responsibility in 


6 


A FLUKE Y Itf DIAMONDS. 


management, relieving my father, in his advanc- 
ing years, of most of his cares, so that nowa- 
days he takes the world easier than has been 
his custom. He still retains the larger interest 
in his concern, however, and gives the business 
all the attention required of him. 

We do a large business in a general line of 
the finest grades of goods, especially in mount- 
ing diamonds and other precious stones, “ of 
which we always keep on hand a valuable stock, 
both mounted and unset/’ as the advertisements 
run. 

Though the business is not what it once was 
in the way of profit, and competition has some- 
what slackened the hold which the old house 
formerly had on the trade, yet our name and 
reputation go for something, and we manage 
to realize pretty comfortable incomes from it. 

As our business, more than any other per- 
haps, has to do with the soft side of human 
nature, and our wares appeal directly to the 
vanity of people as well as to the depth of their 
purses, we have many opportunities for study- 
ing the different characteristics of our patrons, 
and the result is sometimes quite entertaining- 
as well as profitable. As an instance of this, 
our house once sold in flush times a rare gem of 
immense size, for $30,000, currency of the day, 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


7 


to a celebrated pugilist, upon whose expansive 
shirt front it became the envy of every would- 
be 41 sport ” in town. It could be worn with 
perfect safety by its owner, on account of his 
influence over such people, but in the possession 
of a respectable person it would have been, like 
Wilkie Collins’s Moonstone , a dangerous gem 
to its holder. Necessarily such purchasers are 
rare, but not more so than stones of such value. 
Though strict moralists may condemn the 
wearing of expensive jewelry, the fact remains 
that the majority of mankind, and womankind 
too, have an appetite for it which must be 
humored, and, as it is our business to cater for 
them, we undertake to do it, in a satisfactory 
manner, “ at the old stand.” 

But all this is “shoppy,” and not to the 
point of my story, which, with your permission, 
I propose to tell in my own way. It is the 
record of a queer jumble of circumstances, and 
if it interests you nearly as much in the reading 
of it as it did me while participating in the 
events to which it relates, I shall be amply re- 
paid for the trouble I have taken and propose 
to take before we part company. 


8 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


CHAPTER II. 

One day early in May of the present year 
Mr. James Lindley, the father of my most in- 
timate friend, Pierre Lindley, called at the store, 
as he had often a way of doing when down town, 
and, as he was about leaving after a pleasant 
chat, mentioned the fact that his daughter’s 
nineteenth birthday would occur in a day or 
two, and, as he always remembered both his 
children in gifts on these anniversaries, he de- 
sired to purchase something appropriate, but 
was quite at a loss just what to select. He had 
sounded her a little on the subject, and her pref- 
erence semed to be for a pair of solitaire ear- 
rings, although she was quite modest about it 
and did not insist upon them. The old gentle- 
man said he thought “ she had a fair supply of 
jewelry, left by her mother, but perhaps it was 
old fashioned, and come to think of it, he be- 
lieved that, although there were a pair or two of 
earrings in the collection, he did not remember 
that there were any set with diamonds.” For 
his part “ he didn’t believe in them any more 


A FLURRY IX DIAMONDS. 


than he did in ornamenting the nose after the 
manner of the Indians, but still he supposed he 
was an old fogy, and “ if Kate could get any 
comfort from owning them, why, perhaps she 
might as well have them.” 

At his request I showed him a fine assort- 
ment, and, knowing him to be rich, was careful 
not to select any low-priced goods. 

I could get no idea from him about how much 
he would invest in the jewels, nor did he know 
any more than did I how Miss Kate’s taste 
might run as to size or style of the ornaments. 

He was in quite a quandary, out of which, 
with one eye to business and the other to pleas- 
ing Miss Kate, I assisted him by suggesting 
that I should select a member of sets of various 
patterns and values, drop in at his house during 
the evening, and let Miss Kate make her own 
selection, subject to his approval. 

The idea struck him favorably, and, caution- 
ing me in a joking way not to bring any of ex- 
travagant value and get up a conspiracy with 
Kate to ruin him, he departed, satisfied to be so 
easily relieved of his anxiety on the question of 
the gift. 

I selected a dozen pairs of the latest designs 
we had, all mounted with perfect, first water 
stones, none of them very large, but ranging in 


10 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


value from $400 to $1000, the pair. I removed 
them from their cases and hooked each pair 
into a small piece of card-board, with the weight 
of stones and value of the set plainly marked 
thereon. Each pair also bore the little tag 
containing our private mark and number, which 
we always keep attached to goods of this class. 
The cards being separately wrapped in thin 
paper, the whole were then placed loosely in a 
small pasteboard box which I could easily slip 
into the inner pocket of my coat. 

Their combined value was just $7,800, selling 
price, and a beautiful, brilliant lot of sparklers 
they were. 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


11 


CHAPTER III. 

I had known the Lindley family ever since 
my school days, when my friendship with Pierre 
had commenced. This intimacy had continued, 
with slight interruptions, up to the present time, 
the longest period of our separation having oc- 
curred during Pierre’s four years at college, the 
intimacy being resumed again when he returned 
to the city to prosecute his law studies, and 
later became settled in practice with a Mr. 
Blakely his father’s friend and attorney, and a 
distinguished member of the bar. 

I was a frequent visitor at the house, after 
passing the nights there with Pierre. I had 
seen Kate grow up from a child, and noted the 
indications of her increasing beauty of face and 
figure with the interest of a brother. Having 
no sister of my own, and being thrown so much 
into the company of this very interesting young 
sister of Pierre’s, I had come, naturally, I think, 
to regard her in much the same way that he did, 
with no thought of that regard developing into 
anything either sentimental or romantic. For 


12 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


Mr. Lindley, senior, I always had a strong at- 
tachment, which I believe was reciprocated on 
his part towards me. At all events, I was 
heartily welcomed at his house, and he encour- 
aged in every way the intimacy between Pierre 
and myself. 

On the evening in question, after a light 
dinner at my club, I strolled around to the 
house, which was situated a little off from the 
present center of fashionable residences, al- 
though when Mr. Lindley built it, some twenty 
years ago, before the neighborhood began to be 
encroached upon by the advancing demands of 
business, it was quite a swell location. 

The house, a large double one, faced with 
brown stone, was not unlike many of its kind 
so distinctive of the house architecture of New 
York before the inroads of the Queen Anne, 
Elizabethan, Colonial and other ornate and 
varied styles so prevalent to-day in houses of 
the better class. But, while so plain of exterior 
appearance, it was a roomy, cheerful house with- 
in, and in its expensive finishings and rich but 
homelike furnishings demonstrated the ample 
means of its owner, combined with the excellent 
taste of his daughter, who having lost her mother 
in childhood, assumed at an early age the con" 
trol of domestic affairs, for which she had a 
natural liking and ability* 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


13 


My ring was answered by Jerry, a smart- 
looking colored lad, who acted as butler, waiter, 
and generally useful man about the house. 
Learning from him that Miss Kate was in the 
reception room, I went directly there with my 
usual lack of formality. Fairly rushing up to 
meet me, with an abandon which I thought, 
under the circumstances, was excusable, and a 
welcoming hand-shake which was assuring, she 
did not wait for me to be seated before she 
began. 

“ I am awfully glad to see you, Fred, as I 
always am, you know ; but papa says you have 
a pleasant surprise in store for me, and I have 
been on the k anxious seat of expecting so long- 
ever since he told me at dinner in fact, that I 
I am getting worked up to a high tension.” 

“ As it must be fully a quarter of an hour 
since you were warned of your anticipated 
pleasure, it is only a wonder to me that you have 
managed to survive at all until my arrival. So 
not to assume any responsibility for your symp- 
toms taking on a worse turn, if you will seat 
yourself at that table and allow me to do the 
same, I will at once relieve your anxiety and 
myself of the innocent cause of your trouble.” 

So saying, I drew a chair up for her and an- 
other for myself on opposite sides of a little 


14 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


ebony table, previously removing therefrom a 
small statuette which it held. 

As soon as we were seated I drew the box from 
my pocket and placed the contents upon the 
table, in the careless manner usual to us in the 
business. As I have said, they were a pretty 
lot even by daylight at the store among so 
many others, but, as they were displayed under 
the brilliant gaslight, on the dark background 
of the table-cover, their merits were more fully 
developed. 

Drawing back with a little shriek of delight, 
Kate did not appear to comprehend the pur- 
port of the display, although she suspected, I 
think, that it was in some way connected with 
her approaching birthday. I explained matters 
to her, and, as she seemed, quite modestly, in- 
disposed to make a selection alone, I suggested 
that she should call in her father and Pierre 
for conference, as I declined to recommend any 
choice to her. This plan meeting with her ap- 
proval she rang for Jerry, and, on his appear- 
/ ance, sent him to summon them. 

They soon came in and Kate meeting her 
father with a kiss said, “ So this is the pleas- 
ant surprise you told me of? Isn’t he a dear, 
good papa, Pierre, to be so thoughtful of me? 
And to think that he should have decided upon 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


15 


the very thing I most desire.” This as if she 
were entirely innocent of ever having given a 
hint upon the subject. 

I arose as they approached, in order to make 
room for them about the table, and as Kate led 
them up, they all remained standing for a few 
moments in a general survey of the diamonds. 

They formed a very interesting group to me, 
this little family, whose pleasant home life 
always ran so smoothly, surrounded, as it was, 
by all that wealth, liberally scattered, could 
provide for their comfort and enjoyment. 

Mr. Lindley had commenced life a poor boy. 
Early apprenticed to a mechanical trade for 
which he had great aptness, after reaching his 
majority he had rapidly advanced, first to be a 
foreman, then superintendent, and later on a 
partner in the large manufacturing establish- 
ment which he had entered a dozen years 
before with apparently no better prospects of 
success than the other boys of similar age and 
circumstances with whom he was associated. 
He had soon attracted the attention of his em- 
ployers by his marked ingenuity and inventive 
genius, and was scarcely “ out of his time ” be- 
fore he began reaping the benefit of important 
original inventions, in the way of time and labor 
saving machinery. He had retired from active 


16 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


business several years since with a snug fortune, 
and besides, was still in receipt of an almost 
princely income from royalties paid him for the 
use of his valuable patents. 

I see him now as he stands there with his 
son and daughter interested in surveying the 
sparkling jewels upon the table. Nearly six 
feet in height, with broad, square shoulders and 
erect figure, good development of bone and 
muscle, without much spare flesh, he looks the 
very impersonation of health and vigorous 
middle age. His thick, dark-brown hair and 
close-trimmed beard and mustache show only 
here and there signs of advancing age in a 
sprinkling of gray. Rather full-faced, with a 
florid complexion, high, broad forehead and 
large brown eyes ; with a pleasant, amiable ex- 
pression of features and easy courtly manner, 
he is every inch a gentleman, self-made and 
self-taught. His children have inherited more 
or less of his qualities of person and character. 
In his daughter this is noted in the rather high 
color of her complexion, the massive coils of 
rich brown hair, and, so far as the expression 
goes, in her eyes which, however, are darker, 
fuller and of a sparkling brightness rare to find. 
She is scarcely above the medium height, of 
well-developed figure, graceful in movement, 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


1 ? 


unconventional and charmingly familiar in her 
ways. Pierre resembles his father in many 
ways. Tall and compactly built, dark-haired 
and dark-eyed, handsome features with a cheer- 
ful, sunny look about them, he shows to those 
who come often in his way that he has been 
well schooled in what pertains to perfect manli- 
ness, no less in a practical than in an intellect- 
ual sense. 

They were soon seated and engaged in ex- 
amining the jewels, all of them, even to the old 
gentleman, disclosing that sort of infatuation 
which a collection of fine diamonds, properly 
mounted and in a good light, appears to have 
for people not in the trade. Expressing their 
preferences rather hurriedly, only to change 
their opinions again and again, finally the de- 
cisions of all seemed to lie upon either one of 
two pairs, priced respectively at $550 and $650, 
the larger stones being passed over both on ac- 
count of their greater cost and a suspicion, ex- 
pressed by Pierre, that “ they might be a little 
‘ loud ’ for so modest and quiet a person as 
Kate, ahem.” 

Finally Mr. Lindley suggested “ as Kate is the 
one to be tortured by wearing them, let her de- 
cide the matter for herself. By trying them in 
her ears, and posing before the mirror there, as 


18 A FL UBR Y IN DIAMONDS. 

only women know how to do, she can get the 
proper effect.” 

Kate, complying smilingly, arose, and, adjusting 
them one after the other, carefully scanning the 
effect of each in the glass, was not long in de- 
ciding upon those which I thought would be 
her choice. This was the pair marked at $650, 
and, as her selection was approved by all save 
myself, who had no voice in the matter, 
excepting to vouch for their rare quality and 
novelty of design, I considered the matter as 
settled, and that I had made a good sale. 

As I had an engagement later in the evening 
and did not wish to be encumbered with the 
box of jewels, I requested Kate to retain them 
all until the next day, when I would call or 
send for those to be returned. “ Besides,” I 
said, “ you can thus have an opportunity of a 
further comparison of them by daylight, and 
be able to more satisfactorily determine your 
choice.” 

This arrangement seeming most agreeable, 
after cautioning Kate in a joking manner to be 
careful and put them out of the reach of burg- 
lars, as I should hold her responsible for them, 
I departed to keep my appointment, for which 
I was already a little late. 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


19 


CHAPTER IV. 

Next morning upon reaching the store I 
found my father already in the office. He had 
come in early to arrange some private business 
of his own before starting upon a little tour of 
pleasure, accompanied by my mother, and which 
he said would occupy ten days or so. They 
were to leave that afternoon by one of the Sound 
steamers, and mother was to meet him at the 
office in time for the boat. 

I have neglected to state that father had ah 
ways kept his residence in the town in which 
our factory was situated, where also I had made 
it my home, coming and going to and from the 
city daily, until, as my responsibilities had in- 
creased at the store, and to save time, as well 
as having a liking for city life, during the past 
two years I had occupied a suite of rooms at a 
fashionable up-town hotel. 

It was not the most agreeable way in the 
world of living, but as a number of my acquaint- 
ances, business and social, managed to subsist 
in the same manner, and as, consequently, I did 


20 A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 

not lack for company, and besides, often man- 
aged to turn a little business among the former 
during the evenings, I did not object to it for a 
while at least. Part of my meals I took at the 
restaurant in the house, and a greater part of 
them at my club in the near vicinity, besides 
often dining with the Lindleys, and, as I have 
said, passing the nights there. I frequently 
passed the Sundays at home with my folks, and 
often ran over there between times, thus retain- 
ing a very pleasant domestic and social connec- 
tion in my native town ; so that altogether I 
did not have much time to pine in my bachelor 
quarters. 

To return to the story. Shortly after my 
arrival at the store I was called out on a busi- 
ness errand down the street, and, on my return 
a few minutes later, I found Jerry, the - servant 
up at the Lindley’s, awaiting me. He hastily 
handed me a note addressed to me in Mr. 
Lindley’s hand, which upon tearing open, I 
found to run as follows : 

Tuesday morning. 

Fred, — 

Your diamonds have been stolen in a very 
mysterious manner while we were at breakfast 
Come up at once if you can. If you think pro- 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


21 


per, you may confer with the police on your way, 
but would advise that you do so in a way to 
avoid publicity. 

Yours hastily, 

Jas. Lindley. 

Concealing my excitement as much as pos- 
sible, I first dismissed Jerry, with instructions 
to hurry home and report that I would be up 
right away, and then telling father that I was 
called out upon very urgent business, and re- 
questing him to look after matters in my absence, 
I left, promising to return in time to see him 
and mother before they left on their journey. 

I decided to go at once to detective head- 
quarters and secure the services of an officer 
there in whose shrewdness I had great confi- 
dence. He had been employed by us in busi- 
ness of a similar character, connected with the 
robbery of one of our traveling salesmen, which 
resulted in his cleverly capturing the thieves and 
recovering most of the stolen goods. 

He was not at the office when I arrived there, 
and quite impatient and not a little excited, I 
was about leaving without divulging my busi- 
ness, when he came strolling in. Quietly step- 
ping up to him and saluting him, in as few words 
as possible I stated the nature of my business, 


22 A FLUBBY IN DIAMONDS . 

and requested him to accompany me at once, 
to which, after a moment’s interview with his 
chief, he agreed, and calling a carriage, we were 
soon on our way. 

This man, Sloane by name, was no different 
in appearance from hundreds of men whom one 
daily meets about town. He was a fair-look- 
ing man of perhaps fifty years, of average size 
and weight, dressed in an ordinary business 
suit of gray checks, clean linen, well brushed 
shoes and the conventional round top hat of 
the day. He looked neither more nor less than 
an ordinary business man or smart clerk. 
His manners were easy, and his whole appear- 
ance rather pleasing than otherwise. His rep- 
utation in his calling was high, both at head- 
quarters and among the business community, 
with whom he had extensive and varied expe- 
riences in his line. 

As I had no further information to impart 
on the subject in hand than was contained in 
the few lines from Mr. Lindley, our conversa- 
tion on the way up-town was general, and I 
found Mr. Sloane to be a fair talker, but a better 
listener, which, perhaps, was more in his way. 

We soon arrived at the house and were met 
at the door by Mr. Lindley, who, upon my in- 
troducing Mr. Sloane, at once invited us into 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


23 


the library for consultation. The old gentle- 
man was somewhat agitated and seemed re- 
lieved and pleased at our arrival. 

As soon as we were seated, with rather a 
forced smile upon his face, he said : 

“ Well, Fred, our efforts to celebrate Kate’s 
birthday appeared to have had a rather serious 
climax, don’t they ? ” 

“Well, yes sir,” I replied, “judging from 
your note I should say it looks that way. But 
as I know nothing of the particulars, just how 
serious it may prove I can not of course sur- 
mise.*’ 

“ As time is valuable in such cases to your 
friend here, Mr. Sloane I believe you called him, 
I will at once repeat to you all the facts of the 
case so far as I know them. After you left 
last night Kate took all the diamonds and 
placed them in the safe up-stairs. 

“This morning before breakfast she took them 
out, and into her room, for a further comparison 
by daylight, as suggested by you, and, her 
former choice being confirmed, she placed the 
pair selected in her ears, for the purpose, as she 
expressed it, of * stunning 9 Pierre and myself 
at breakfast. Just then Jerry came and told 
her that breakfast was ready, and, as you know, 
Fred, that Kate must always look things over 


24 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


in the dining-room before either the family 
or guests are summoned, she ran down-stairs, 
leaving your diamonds carelessly exposed upon 
her dressing-table. As breakfast was announced, 
on my way down, in passing the door of Kate’s 
room and casually looking in, I saw the girl 
Winnie standing in front of the glass, with one 
of the rings in her ear and apparently admiring 
the effect. Stepping into the room, I went 
toward her, when she hearing me approach, 
pulled it out and threw it down among the rest. 
As she turned she met my reproving glance in 
an embarrassed manner and hastily left the 
room, neither of us having spoken. With no 
thought that Winnie would steal the jewels, 
but with an idea of scaring Kate and reproving 
her for tempting the cupidity of the servants, I 
gathered the jewelry together in the box, and, 
going through into my own room, placed it in 
a drawer of my dressing-case, and, locking the 
same, placed the key in my pocket and went 
down-stairs. Pierre following shortly after, we 
were soon seated at the table. During the 
meal Pierre chaffed Kate considerably over 
her poor taste in wearing diamonds in the 
morning. In answer to his good-natured 
taunts she explained her reason for doing so, that 
she wore them especially to please him and me, 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


and more in the same view. I put on an 
innocent face and asked her if, before coming 
down, she had replaced the balance of the 
diamonds in the safe. Upon her replying in 
the negative, and acknowledging that she had 
left them exposed in her room, assuming a very 
serious manner, I read her quite a lecture on 
her oversight in thus tempting the servants of 
the house, to say nothing of the great risk of 
our becoming the victims of prowling thieves, 
of whom we hear so much nowadays. Pierre 
joined me in what he evidently considered 
merely a little innocent tantalizing of his sister, 
as of course he was ignorant of the scare I had 
prepared for Kate as a further warning to her. 
We succeeded in getting her into quite a 
worriment over the affair. 

“ After Pierre had hurried off down town, 
which he did as soon as breakfast was over, 
Kate left me at the table, saying she would go 
up and put away the jewelry, thus easing my 
mind, although she had not thought of any 
danger, and thought that I was more than 
usually apprehensive of it. Chuckling to my- 
self, I followed after her, and had just reached 
the door to the library here, when I heard Kate 
coming down the stairs, and, turning to meet 
her, saw that she was greatly agitated over her 


26 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


discovery. She beckoned me in here in a 
most excited manner, and scarcely able to 
talk at all, she told me that the diamonds were 
gone, box and all. I tried to appear horror- 
stricken at her words, while I had to labor to 
keep from laughing at the success of my ruse. 
I repeated my scolding over her carelessness, 
said ‘ I told you so,’ and otherwise treated her 
rather cruelly for a few moments. When I 
thought that she had been sufficiently punished 
for what after all was a perfectly natural, if not 
quite excusable, offense, I tried to pacify her 
excitement, which kept increasing. I finally 
told her of what I had witnessed on my way 
down-stairs, of my having put the jewels in a 
safe place, and that now that she was through 
with her lesson, I would go up and get them 
for her to put in the safe until they were called 
for. Inwardly pleased at the success of my 
little scheme, I went up to my room followed 
by Kate, unlocked the drawer and drew it out, 
when, to my dismay, I perceived that the 
diamonds were missing. Search the drawer as 
I would, not a sign of them could I discover. 
I tried the other drawers, hoping, as a person 
will in such a case, that I had mistaken the 
proper one. I looked into all kinds of impos- 
sible places and receptacles, but they were gone 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


27 


and, up to this time, no clue of them has been 
found, and it looks now, Fred, as though you had 
made sale of the whole lot, instead of a single 
pair of them, as, of course, I am responsible to 
you for their value.” 

“ Well, Mr. Lindley, we are not discussing 
that side of the case just now, though, if it will 
relieve you to know it, I may state that there is 
considerable doubt in my mind about your hav- 
ing any responsibility at all in the matter. But 
what we want to know is where the diamonds 
have gone, and it would please Mr. Sloane, I 
imagine, to know also something pointing 
toward the person who took them. While we 
have only a selfish interest in the value of the 
jewels, Sloane, you know, has, in addition to a 
slight interest therein, as indicated by the 
amount of his reward if they are found, also a 
professional interest looking to the capture of 
the thief. Is that about it, Sloane ? ” 

“ There is some truth, Mr. Hopkins, in what 
you say, and, as time is of great importance in 
these matters, the quicker we commence look- 
ing into it the better show we shall have to 
make any headway in what looks just now like 
a somewhat mysterious case.” And Sloane put 
on a serious face, as he quietly arose from his 
chair. 


28 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


“ Suppose we go up-stairs and look over your 
rooms a little, Mr. Lindley,” said Sloane. 

Mr. Lindley acquiescing, led the way, and we 
all went up, nothing being said by either of us 
until we reached Mr. Lindley’s apartments. 

These rooms were at the back of the house, 
while Kate’s apartments, upon the same side of 
the hall, were at the front. They each comprised 
a large sleeping room with boudoir attached, 
the two sets communicating by a door between 
the dressing-rooms. This door just now was 
open, as Mr. Lindley had left it when he passed 
through to secrete the jewels. 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


CHAPTER V. 

Sloane took in the whole situation in his 
quiet, professional way. I carefully searched 
for any trace which should lead up toward 
solving the mystery, and kept an eye on Sloane. 
I had about concluded that we should find no 
clue there to encourage us, when Sloane began 
questioning Mr. Lindley. 

“Are you sure, sir, that you locked the drawer 
after placing the box of jewelry in it ? ” 

“ Quite sure, and that I placed the key in my 
pocket, both acts being quite unusual on my 
part.” 

“ And you found the drawer locked on your 
return ? ” 

“ Yes, sir, and remember distinctly taking 
the key from my pocket and unlocking it.” 

After a moment’s thought, Sloane stepped up 
and taking the key from an adjoining drawer 
and substituting it for the one which Mr. 
Lindley had left in the rifled drawer, vainly 
attempted to insert it in the lock. It would 
not work at all, and, after satisfying him- 


30 


.1 FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


self of this fact, he replaced it in the lock from 
which he had removed it. 

It seemed to me that Sloane went through 
this performance more for the purpose of kill- 
ing time while he was studying the case, than 
with an idea of getting any clue from this 
source. For, supposing the key to have fitted 
the lock, it would be ridiculous, I thought, to 
further suppose that the thief had used this key, 
and, after securing the booty, had so carefully 
relocked the drawer and replaced the key. 
Still I had great confidence in Sloane and 
knew that discoveries which might seem to out- 
siders as most trivial and without bearing, to 
men in his line were often of great value, and 
led to most important results. 

Sloane next proceeded to a most careful ex- 
amination of the lock and its surroundings, 
turning the key back and forth, listening to the 
throw of the bolt ; looked into the keyhole and 
at the outside woodwork about it, but failed to 
make any discoveries, as was evinced by his 
remarking to Mr. Lindley that he “ could find 
no evidence of the lock having been tampered 
with. It had probably been simply picked 
with a wire, or opened with a false key. The 
latter was the most likely, as the culprit would 
not have been apt to linger, after securing the 


A FL UR II T IN DIAMONDS. $ 

diamonds, long enough to relock the drawer 
with a wire, which would necessarily take some 
time.” By what fancy, or for what purpose 
the drawer should have been relocked at all he 
did not see, “ but the circumstance was quite 
unusual,” and, he also thought, “ of slight con- 
sequence.” 

As he turned from the bureau, noticing that 
the lower sash of a window alongside of it was 
raised, he remarked, in a casual manner, to Mr. 
Lindley, “ I suppose this window is just as you 
left it on going out before the robbery ? ” 

Mr. Lindley seemed quite taken aback at the 
question, and hastily answered, glancing at 
the window. 

“ No, sir, I never open that window myself, 
even on the warmest nights, there being plenty 
of means of ventilating the rooms without it. 
As it is in a direct line with my bed, and, as I 
am a little inclined to rheumatic twinges at 
times, I am careful about draughts, especially at 
night. Besides, as you will perceive, there is di- 
rectly beneath that window, the roof of a porch 
over the back door of the house, which renders 
the window easily accessible to thieves ; hence, I 
always keep it closed and locked. No, sir, al- 
though I have not thought of it before, in fact 
in my excitement have not noticed that it was 


32 A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 

open, I can assure you that it has been raised 
by some one since I left the room on my way 
to breakfast. As I gave orders, upon discover- 
ing the robbery, that nothing should be changed 
here, it follows that the window was opened 
while I was at the table. ,, 

Mr. Sloane’s growing interest was apparent as 
he said, “ I suppose in airing the rooms after 
you leave them in the morning this window, 
like the others, is usually opened for a while ? 
Whose duty is it to attend to that ? ” 

“Well, I have never given any instructions 
to anyone concerning the window, but, as the 
lock upon the sash works very stiffly, as you can 
see, it is my opinion that it is not often used. 
As there are plenty of other windows which can 
more readily be used for such purpose, I hardly 
think it is customary to open this one. My 
daughter has charge of such matters, and, if you 
desire it, I will send for her to answer the 
question.” 

“ Never mind just now, sir,” said Sloane, ap- 
parently attaching little importance to the 
matter ; ” I may want other information from 
her, and this can be deferred until later.” 

Sloane went to the window, put his head out- 
side and examined the roof of the porch, which 
was but a few inches below. After completing 


A FLURRY list J) TA MONDS. 


33 


his examination he withdrew his head and low- 
ered the sash. Upon trying the window fasten- 
ing, which he found very difficult to move, he 
smilingly observed to us that “a little oil 
upon it would help it, if it was desired to have 
it in working order.” He then made a 
survey of the yard in the rear, which ran back 
to the stable and carriage-house fronting on 
the next street, and occupying the full width 
of the premises. Being situated upon a 
corner, the side street line of the house was 
continued in a brick wall some seven feet in 
height. In this wall there was a gate opening 
upon the sidewalk. 

“ That gate is kept locked I suppose ? the 
officer said, rather unconcernedly. 

“ Always, I think,” replied Mr. Lindley. “ It 
has a spring lock, the key to which is in the 
care of the servants, by whom the gate is used 
in passing to and from the house. There is a 
bell pull upon the outside for the use of other 
persons who may have business at that part of 
the house.’' 

“ Anybody live over the stable ? I see 
curtains at the windows there.” 

“ Yes, Dan, my coachman, and his wife. 

“ What kind of persons are they?” 

“ Of a very good kind, we think, don’t we, 
Mr. Hopkins ? ” 

3 


04 4 tfJ&ii 1' IN DIAMONDS. 

I nodded approvingly and Mr. Lindley con- 
tinued : 

“ Dan is an Irishman who has been with me 
for a long time, in one way and another. We 
formerly had him at the factory, among the 
horses, and, finding him a most careful driver 
and a good horseman, as well as a very steady, 
honest kind of man, I brought him here to re- 
place my coachman, whom I found inclined to 
drink too much at times. Dan has been with 
us here for nine or ten years and we are 
proud of him. His wife appears to be a very 
good sort of a woman. She does our laundry 
work in the house, and, though she does not 
come so much in my way as Dan, I think I may 
say she is a faithful servant. My daughter 
thinks so, and, as she comes under her charge, 
she is best able to know.” 

“ About this girl Winnie, who was meddling 
with the jewelry in your daughter’s room, and 
whom you did not suspect of anything serious, 
how long have you known her, Mr. Lindley 
and what is her record, so far as you know it ? 
inquired Sloane in an offhand sort of way as 
he continued looking about the room. 

“ Winnie has lived with us only a short time, 
comparatively, a year or so. My daughter heard 
of her through one of her acquaintances, who was 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


35 


quite interested in her and her mother. I don’t 
know much about it myself, but believe there is 
something about a widowed mother with a good 
for-nothing son and a young daughter, hard 
work to get along with the son unwilling to 
assist in any way but to help dispose of what 
small means his mother and sister can get hold 
of. This friend of Miss Lindley is charitably 
disposed, one of the few young ladies of these 
times who, from a sense of duty, go out of the 
usual course to discover worthy objects of sym- 
pathy, if not of charity. She came across this 
case and the result was that Winnie was in- 
stalled here in the capacity of seamstress and 
maid. Miss Lindley took kindly to her at once. 
She has never been used to much work, being 
still young, and her father at one time, I hear, 
having been fairly well off. She is perfectly 
honest and trustworthy so far as I know. I 
did not exactly like the look of the affair with 
the earrings, but I can as yet place no connec- 
tion between her actions there and their later 
disappearance.” 

“ Very naturally you cannot, sir, and I do not 
say that I can. It would be a very boldly 
planned piece of work which we should hardly 
look for in one so young and apparently un- 
skilled in crime, especially as she would know 
that your first suspicions would point to her. 


36 


A FLU HUY IN DIAMONDS. 


More bare-faced crimes have been committed by 
persons as innocent appearing as your Winnie, 
sometimes of themselves, but oftener through 
accomplices. I don’t want you to think that I 
expect to find the thief in Winnie, nor in any 
one else with her assistance. Not at all, Mr. 
Lindley. We are a long way off from success 
yet, which fact compels us to look into every 
incident or circumstance in any way connected 
with the case, and follow it up for whatever 
there is in it. Winnie’s part in the mystery will 
need some attention, it may be only to prove 
her entire innocence, in thought or action, but, 
believe me, just now it will not pay to drop her 
entirely. Excuse me for talking so much, but 
sometimes I can’t help it,” and Sloane looked 
as sober as if he had imparted something of 
great importance, by accident, which his suc- 
ceeding inquiries might either confirm or 
modify. 

“ What other servants are there in the 
house ? ” 

“ Two only, Mary the cook and Jerry her 
son, who acts as a general servant,” replied 
Mr. Lindley promptly, “ neither of whom could 
have had any hand in or knowledge of the 
crime,” confidently. 

“ For what reason, sir? ” quietly asked Sloane. 

“ Firstly, because no amount of diamonds 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


37 


would tempt either of them to betray my confi- 
dence in, and esteem for them. Why, my 
dear sir, if old Mary has been so long in my 
household, as confidential and trusted servant, 
that I could safely leave my purse in her charge 
while I made a tour in Europe, giving her the 
responsibility here in my absence, which lasted 
over a period of two years, with full charge of 
of the house and its contents and inmates, the 
latter including my two young children; if, 
I ask, I could do this with perfect confidence 
in her loyalty and honesty, and find on my 
return that I had not mistaken her in any way 
do you think I could ever suspect her of 
having a hand in the abstraction of these 
paltry diamonds ? ” 

The old gentleman, as he warmed up in de- 
fense of his tried and faithful servant, soon con- 
vinced me, as he must also have Sloane, that 
any suspicions pointing that way would not 
hold. Continuing more quietly, he said : 

“ I have the same confidence in her boy, Jerry. 
He has grown up from a child in my 
family, and has, instilled in his mind, that 
feeling of satisfied dependence so charac- 
teristic of the colored race. He has been 
trained by his mother to look upon us as his 
best friends, and, without ever testing 


38 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


his honesty, I have the same faith in him as 
I have in Mary, which you are aware is quite 
unlimited. But my second reason for as- 
serting that they had no part in the theft 
will probably have more weight with you, Mr. 
Sloane, as it is not to be expected that you will 
share my warm feelings of friendship for them. 
They were both below stairs at the time of the 
robbery. Mary in the kitchen and Jerry in his 
place as waiter at the table. He was still in the 
dining room attending to his duties, where, 
after discovering the loss, I went down to hurry 
him off with the note summoning Mr. Hop- 
kins.’’ 

As Mr. Lindley anticipated, his latter state-, 
ment seemed to clear both of them of any 
suspicion in the mind of the officer, and, after 
nquiring as to the other occupants of the 
house, and learning that they consisted only of 
Mr. Lindley, his son and daughter, Mr. Sloane 
stood a moment in thought and then said : 

“ It will be necessary to see some of these 
people, your daughter especially, but, before 
doing so, I should like to see the safe in which 
the jewelry was kept during the night.” 

“ It is in the passage here,” said Mr. Lindley as 
he stepped out, followed by Sloane and myself, 

The safe, which was of small size, stood in a 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 3 $ 

recess off a passageway leading from the main 
hall to Mr. Lindley s rooms. It was used mere- 
ly as a place of deposit for small articles of 
value, in the way of ornaments and relics not 
often used or worn, and as a receptacle for 
important documents and papers belonging to 
Mr. Lindley. On reaching it and finding the 
door closed, Mr. Lindley grasped the knob to 
open it, but, to his evident surprise, found that 
it was locked. 

“ My daughter appears to have locked it,” 
said he, “ and, as you probably wish to see the 
inside of it, I will call her and have her open it, 
for, to tell the truth, I am unable to do it 
myself. It has a combination lock and Kate 
has full control of it. I have never bothered 
myself about it, not even knowing the figures 
upon which it locks, but depend upon her to 
obtain for me anything within it which I way 
want. It is rarely opened, however, even by 
her.” 

“ I do not think it will be necessary to open 
it all, except to discover that everything is all 
right inside, as there is no chance of finding the 
diamonds in there,” replied Sloane with a smile. 
“ But I should like to know when it was locked, 
and now, if you choose, you may send for Miss 
Lindley to enlighten us upon this, as well as 
some other points.” 


40 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


“ Suppose we go down to the library, where 
she will join us,” said Mr. Lindley. 

“ One moment, please,” returned Sloane, as 
he quickly passed into Mr. Lindley ’s room, and 
stepping to the window over the porch, made a 
close examination of both sashes, in the vicinity 
of the metal fastening. After raising the sash 
again, he came toward us, with, “Now I am 
ready, we can go down at once.” Mr. Lindley 
leaving us to proceed alone, went off to summon 
Kate, and together they reached the library a 
moment after we had entered. 

Kate came directly up to me with hands 
extended and a roguish smile upon her face. 

“ Well, Fred, your diamonds are gone, not- 
withstanding your caution to me about 
burglars, and that I put them in a safe place 
over night at least. As I never dreamed of a 
visit from them by daylight, I relaxed my vigil- 
ance, and the result I suppose to be, that you 
wild hold me responsible for the loss of them, 
as threatened. I am not rich, you know, but I 
guess papa will settle for them and withhold 
the amount from my allowance until he is repaid 
the loan, will you not papa ? ” This was said 
as soberly as if it were meant. Without wait- 
ing for his reply, she continued : 

“ I am so glad the burglars did not get my 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


41 


earrings with the rest. I put them in my ears 
before breakfast, and thereby caused myself to 
be made the subject of Pierre’s jokes, but, ever 
since the robbery, I have been congratulating 
myself for wearing them, and were it not wick- 
ed, believe me I should turn the laugh upon. 
Pierre when he comes home and learns of the 
robbery. 

“ But seriously, I am terribly nervous over 
the affair, and shall almost be tempted to wear 
all my jewelry hereafter to protect it. You will 
observe I still wear the earrings. How do they 
look, Fred ? ” I didn’t stop to tell her how 
becoming they were, nor how bewitching she 
appeared in looks and manner, as she tossed her 
head from side to side, and from those dark 
snapping eyes shot glances at me which neither 
the circumstances of our meeting, nor the pres- 
ence of the officer could restrain ; but turned at 
once to business, and introduced Mr. Sloan as 
an acquaintance of mine connected with police 
affairs. 

“ Oh, yes, I know. Papa told me of him, 
and that he desired to question me about some 
matters regarding the affair. Let us be seated.” 
And in her graceful girlish way she motioned 
toward several easy chairs, as she seated herself 
upon a sofa. “Now I am ready, but as I know 


42 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


so little of this affair which papa has not al- 
ready told you, I do not see that I can be of 
much service to you, sir.” 

This to Mr. Sloane in a cool, dignified 
way which it was difficult for me to believe 
possible with her, who always appeared so frank 
and unreserved in manner. 

Apologizing for the necessity for his troubling 
her at all, Mr. Sloane began politely question- 
ing her in an easy, conversational way. Her 
responses were quick and to the point. 

“ First, Miss Lindley, as to the safe. When 
you took the jewelry out to carry it into your 
room do you remember closing the safe door 
and locking it ? ” 

“ I do not, sir, but as it is always my habit to 
do so, I think it quite likely that I locked it. 
It requires no key, you know, a turn or two of 
the little knob securely fastening it. But why 
do you ask ? Did you find it open ? ” 

“ No, Miss, but if I had I should have con- 
sidered it a quite natural condition, under the 
circumstances. You did not find it open then, 
as you might have left it, and closed it upon 
your fathers discovery of the loss ? ” 

“ No, sir. Papa told me to have everything 
up stairs left as it was until your arrival. If 
the safe door had been open, however, I think 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


43 


I should have noticed it, as I passed close to it 
in going down stairs from papa’s room.” 

“ That will do for the safe at present, but be- 
fore I leave I wish you would open it, just to 
satisfy us that its contents have been undis- 
turbed. Now, Miss Lindley, what are the duties 
in the house of the girl Winnie ? ” 

“ She does plain sewing for me and assists in 
taking care of the rooms.” 

“ Is it her duty to open the sleeping room 
windows in the morning, for the purpose of air- 
ing the rooms ? ” 

“ Yes, sir, and she usually does that, and the 
other necessary chamber work, while we are at 
breakfast.” 

“ Did she open them this morning ? ” 

“ I have been so excited over this affair of the 
diamonds that really I have not noticed whether 
any of the windows are open or not. If she had 
opened them you would have found them still 
open when you arrived, as neither Winnie nor 
anyone else has been upstairs since our dis- 
covery.” 

“ By your orders ? ” 

“ Yes, sir.” 

“ Is it customary with her to open all the 
windows at this season ? ” 

“ Of that I cannot speak positively, although 


44 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


it is my opinion that, with the exception of one 
window in papa’s room, she is apt to throw them 
all open. The catch upon that one works so 
hard that she complained to me of the difficulty 
of moving it, and I told her that, until it was 
remedied, she might keep it closed.” 

“ That is the window alongside the bureau 
and over the back porch ? ” 

“ Yes, sir.” 

“ From what you know of this girl have you 
any reason to doubt her being perfectly honest 
and trustworthy ? ” 

“ Not at all, sir, on the contrary I have the 
greatest confidence in her, and would trust her 
in any way.” 

“ Does she know that the diamonds are miss- 



“ Yes, sir, and so do all the servants, except- 
ting perhaps Dan, the coachman, and his wife.” 
“ How did they find it out ? ” 

“ I told Winnie myself, as I met her in the 
hall immediately after the discovery. Papa told 
Jerry something about it when he sent him 
down town with the message, I believe, as when 
I went down stairs a few minutes ago I found 
him and his mother discussing it, and they both 
eagerly asked me for particulars about it.” 

“ What do you think of Winnie’s actions in 
your room as witnessed by your father ? ” 


A FLURRY IX DIAMONDS. 45 

“ That thinking herself alone, and dazzled by 
the beauty of the ornaments' as most young 
girls would have been, she allowed her curiosity, 
or vanity if you please, to get the better of her 
judgment. Nothing more, I assure you.” 

“ How did she act when you told her of your 
loss?” 

“ She was greatly agitated, in fact she seemed 
considerably excited before I told her, but, re- 
membering how papa had caught her unawares, 
and thinking that she must suspect something 
wrong from our actions and whispered confer- 
ences, I did not wonder at it.” 

“ Where did she pass the time while you 
were at breakfast, as for some reason she ap- 
pears not to have aired the rooms or performed 
any other usual chamber work this morning? ” 

“ In her room probably, though why she 
should have neglected her duties I cannot say. 
It is something quite unusual for her.” 

“ Does she ever have visitors here ? ” 

“ Occasionally her mother calls to see her, 
and once in a great while her brother comes 
here. With these exceptions she has no com- 
pany, and she seldom goes out, except to visit 
at her mother’s.” 

“ This brother of hers, who you say some- 
times comes here, what do you know of him ? ” 


46 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


“ Nothing only that he is a lazy, worthless 
fellow, living upon his mother and sister. 
Winnie seldom mentions him to me as she 
can say no good of him.” 

“ What brings him here, do you suppose ? ” 

“ I fancy that he comes to get money from 
Winnie, although she has never told me so. 
She always appears flurried after he has been 
here, and as she does not apparently relish his 
visits, I can see no other object in his coming. 
She seems heartily ashamed of him, and, I think, 
would give him almost her last penny to keep 
him away from the house. They were not 
always poor, and Winnie is proud. I am so 
sorry for her ; and yet she seems quite happy 
here with us.” 

“ What is her brother’s name ? ” 

“ Richard — Richard Evans. The family is 
English I believe, though they came to New 
York when the children were small.” 

“ Do you know where they live ? ” 

“Yes, sir; but I cannot give you the address, 
as I forget the number. I called there once 
with a friend, at the time I engaged Winnie, 
now nearly two years ago. It is in East — th 
Street not far from Third Avenue.” 

“ It does not matter, Miss Lindley.” 

Sloane here took a small memorandum book 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


4 ' 


from his pocket, and, after making a few hurried 
entries therein, said, as he replaced it and rose 
from his chair. 

“ Now, Miss Lindley, if you will oblige us by 
accompanying us up stairs, and perhaps answer 
one or two questions, I will release you from 
any further trouble on my account at present.” 

“ No trouble at all, sir, I assure you,” replied 
Kate, smilingly. “ I am only too glad to do my 
part toward solving this mystery, but am 
afraid that I am proving a quite unimportant 
witness.” 

“ Of that we cannot yet judge, Miss,” said 
Sloane respectfully, without showing in looks 
or manner whether he had learned anything of 
value or not. 




a Flurry in diamonds 


CHAPTER VI. 

Arrived up-stairs, Mr. Sloane called Kate’s 
attention to the fact that the only window which 
was open was the one that was supposed to be 
closed, and, in a quiet way, to the condition of 
all the rooms, which were just as they had been 
left by their occupants in the morning. 

Kate flushed a little at this latter illusion to 
the untidy appearance of things. 

“ I don’t understand it at all,” she said. “ I 
never noticed anything about the rooms when 
I came up with papa, in my excitement hastily 
looking over my bureaus, dressing-case and 
closets to see if anything but the diamonds had 
been taken.” 

“ And you discovered — ? 

“ Nothing missing. Everything in the way 
of jewelry, money or valuables of any kind was 
in its usual place. So with my dresses and 
everything else that I could think of. It 
seemed strange, because nothing was locked 
up, and there were many things which could 
have been taken as easily as the diamonds, 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 49 

my jewel-case for instance. In papa’s room I 
found the same state of affairs, excepting 
that he had disturbed things a little in his 
search for the missing jewels. Is it not a sin- 
gular case, Mr. Sloane ? ” 

“ Rather so, I admit, and fortunate for you 
that it is, I take it,” responded Sloane, while 
Mr. Lindley gave utterance for the first time 
to any opinion he may have formed, by saying 
that it looked to him as if the theft had been 
committed by some one who knew of the dia- 
monds being in the house, and had gorle no 
farther than necessary to secure them only. 
This view of the case had been mine for some 
time and, I think, also Sloane’s,for, although we 
had not been told that nothing but the dia- 
monds was taken, we must have inferred such 
to be the case from the fact that the loss of 
nothing else was mentioned, and all investiga- 
tion, so far, was on their account. 

“ This window which is so difficult to open, 
Miss, how do you manage in washing it ? ” 

“ Oh, Jerry washes all the windows, and he 
is strong and probably opens it without much 
difficulty.” 

“ Is it often washed ? ” 

“ As often as necessary, I think, though not 
as frequently as those at the front of the house, 
4 


50 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


not being so much exposed to dust. But really, 
sir, I don’t wonder at your asking that question, 
for I should judge on closer inspection that a 
little soap and water would improve it.” And 
Kate laughed heartily over what she considered 
Mr. Sloane’s joke at her expense, while he, poor 
fellow, never having intentionally perpetrated a 
joke in his life, apologized in a most bungling 
way, being taken completely off his guard by 
Kate. 

“ I didn’t mean that, you know, Miss Lindley. 
I think the glass is remarkably clean and bright, 
at least compared with some that I have seen, 
but I wanted to know whether it had lately 
been washed in order to fix another circum- 
stance in my mind,” and Sloane began to settle 
down to business again. 

“ Well, really, I can’t say just when it was 
cleaned, but certainly not within a week or two,’ 
said Kate. 

“ That roof under the window has been re- 
cently painted, I see, Mr. Lindley. About how 
long since it was done ? ” said Sloane. 

“ About a month or so,” replied Mr. Lindley. 

“ You have a burglar alarm attached to this 
window, I see. ’ 

“ Yes, sir, and to all the lower openings of the 
house, and to the stable.” 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


51 


“ Is it in good working order? ” 

“ Yes, sir, I think it is.” 

“ Not like most of them, then, Mr. Lindley 
As far as my knowledge of them goes they 
frighten people oftener by false alarms than by 
truthful announcements of attempted robberies. 
May I see the indicator attached to the 
alarm ? ” 

“ Certainly, sir. You will find it in my dress- 
ing-room there.” 

After looking at the machine and its attach- 
ments, Sloane returned into the room, saying, 
“ That alarm has no connection with this case 
I notice that it has a clock attachment which 
automatically throws it out of use at six o’clock 
in the morning. Of course, if the apparatus 
was in working order this morning, it was dis- 
connected several hours before this robbery oc- 
curred, and consequently any tampering with 
the doors or windows while you were at break- 
fast would not be indicated upon it.” 

“ Certainly not, Mr. Sloane.” 

After standing a few moments in thought, 
Sloane requested that the boy Jerry be sum- 
moned. Mr. Lindley rang for him and he came 
in presently, looking uneasily around the room 
and at its occupants. 

Mr. Lindley informed him that the gentleman, 


52 


A FLUBliY IN DIAMONDS. 


indicating Mr. Sloane, wished to talk with him 
a little, and Jerry, bowing politely, first to his 
employer and then to Sloane, waited, somewhat 
nervously, 'for him to begin. Sloane, who had 
carefully scanned the youth as soon as he entered 
now, scarcely looking toward him, and in a very 
reassuring way, said : 

“Jerry, your mistress informs me that you 
generally wash the windows here. Now can 
you tell me when you last washed that one 
next the bureau ? Whether it was before or 
since the roof beneath it was painted? ” 

“ I washed it week before last, I think it was, 
sir, at any rate it was a week or more after the 
roof was painted, because, before I went out on 
it, I tried the paint, and it was dry and hard.” 
said Jerry, who was recovering himself under 
Mr. Sloane’s gentle manner. 

“ Then when you wash that window on the 
outside you stand upon the roof ? ” 

“ Yes, sir, it’s handier than sitting on the 
window-sill, like I have to with the rest of 
them.” 

“ I thought that was about it, Jerry. That 
will do for the window, I guess. Have you 
seen the coachman this morning ? ” 

“ Yes, sir, he was in the kitchen a while ago ” 
“ Nothing unusual about that, I suppose ? ” 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


53 


“ Oh, no, sir, he often comes in there.” 

“ Did he know anything of the diamonds 
being stolen before you told him of it, for I 
suppose, of course, you did tell him ? ” 

“ Yes, sir, I did after he told mother and me 
something kind of queer about Miss Winnie’s 
brother.” 

“ Ah ! indeed,” and Sloane began to show 
more interest. “ What was it so queer about 
him?” 

“ Dan said he saw him come into the yard, 
through the side gate, this morning, and go 
down into the basement. In a little while he 
saw Winnie almost pushing him down the back 
steps, and he went out of the gate in a hurry, 
and ran down the street like mad.” 

“ So then you thought he might have had 
something to do with the diamonds, and told 
Dan about them. Did he agree with you ? ” 

“ I don’t know, sir, but I know he don’t 
like that Richard. He told me to tell Mr. 
Lindley what he saw.” 

“ Well, Jerry, you can go now,” said Sloane, 
hurriedly dismissing him. 

As soon as he had passed the door, Sloane 
requested Mr. Lindley to call the coachman at 
once. 

“ I don’t know that there is anything in it, 


54 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


but if there is, there is no time to waste in 
getting at it.” These latter remarks to me while 
Mr. Lindley was hurrying after Dan. “ Miss 
Lindley, will you oblige me by joining your 
seamstress, Winnie, down-stairs, and keeping 
her with you until I may call her, provided I 
wish to see her ? ” 

“ With pleasure, sir, though I have no fear 
that she will try to run away,” replied Kate, 
with some hauteur, rising and preparing to 
leave. 

“ Possibly not, Miss,” said Sloane politely ; 
“ but in such matters it is always best to go very 
cautiously. Unless she starts the subject her- 
self, I would advise that you do not discuss the 
robbery with her.” 

Kate, promising compliance, withdrew just as 
her father entered the room ushering in Dan. 

I knew Dan very well, as I had for years, and, 
as intimated by Mr. Lindley in his praises of 
him to the detective, I liked him. He was a 
cool-headed, steady-going Irishman, somewhere 
of middle age, with a frank, open countenance, 
ruddy complexion, and a pair of twinkling, 
gray eyes lighting up a face which, when I first 
knew him, was positively handsome, and was 
yet far from ugly. His hair, which was clipped 
close to his head, was sandy in color, matching 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


55 


his long English chop whiskers. Rather under 
the medium in height and weight, he was built 
like an athlete, with good figure, deep-chested 
and square-shouldered. In his neat livery, 
when seated upon the box with reins well in 
hand and whip at proper poise, he was a model 
coachman in looks, which his skill in horseman- 
ship and graceful dexterity in driving in no- 
wise belied. We were all proud of Dan, and 
he was proud of his position, and, though given 
to sly humor at times, was most respectful on 
all occasions. 

As he entered the room and Mr. Lindley 
motioning toward the officer, explained the 
reason of his visit, Dan appeared just the least 
bit nervous, but soon recovered himself. 

“Jerry has told us,” said Sloane, “that you 
saw some person enter the street gate this 
morning. Did you recognize that person 
beyond doubt ? ” 

“ Sure, sir, I’d niver mishtake that loafer.” 

“ Who was it, Dan ? ” 

“ Who else, sir, but the fellow they call Rich- 
ard, the brother of Miss Winnie, the seam- 
stress here in the house.” 

“ How do you come to know him ? ” 

“ Know him ? Isn’t it meself has had to 
throw him out of the shtable a half-dozen times 
whin he has come loafing around there ? ” 


56 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


“ What was his object in visiting the stable ? ’ 

“ Divil a bit do I know more nor yourself 
He pretinded to be wanting to see his sister, 
and would hang around, shmoking and shpitting 
upon the floor. Once or twice he had some 
other loafer with him, so, as I was not shtarving 
for company, and had an eye to keeping all the 
whips and things for my own use and the good 
of the boss here, I jist made it my business to 
fire him out. I was obloiged to do this so often 
it got to be koind of tiresome loike, so one day 
I jist hustled him out of it on the lash of a big 
carriage whip, and divil a hap’orth of his ugly 
face have I seen till this morning, whin he come 
sneakin’ in at the gate and wint down the kitchen 
steps.” 

“ What time was that, Dan ? ” 

“ I can’t say exactly, but not much off from 
nine o’clock, I always get around to the house 
with the coopay at nine to take Mr. Pierre down 
town, and I had the carriage ready to drive out, 
and was shutting up the back door of the car- 
riage house whin I seen him as I told you.” 

“ What did you do ? ” 

“ Nothing, sir, but jist kape my eyes on the 
house here for a few minutes, whin, all of asud- 
den, the back door at the top of the stoop below 
was opened, and out he come again in a big hurry, 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


57 


and his sister nearly pushing him down the 
shteps. Out of the gate he wint and down the 
street on a dead run, as I could hear by the 
noise of his feet. He looked loike he was being 
chased by a ghost, and, be jabers, he thraveled 
like he thought it was gaining on him ! ” 

“ Did you mention this to young Mr. Lindley 
when he came out ? ” 

“ Yes, sir.” 

“ What did he think of it ? ” 

“ He said, ‘ he thought maybe the fellow had a 
quarrel with his sister and run away because 
she threatened to call for help, but perhaps I 
might mintion it to his father here.’ You see, 
sir, they all feel sorry for Miss Winnie on ac- 
count of this fellow, but don’t loike to mintion 
him to her.” 

“ How do you suppose he got in at the gate ? ” 

“ It’s more nor I know, sir, for it’s always 
locked. He must have had the kay.” 

“ Where is the key of this gate kept ? 

“ I don’t know, sir, its nothing to me, for I 
never use it. 

To Mr. Lindley. “ Will you please find out 
where the key is kept, and whether it can be 
found ? ” 

Mr. Lindley went out at once and soon re- 
turned with the information that the key was in 


58 A FL URR Y IN DIAMO NDS. 

its usual place, alongside the back basement 
door. 

I think that this news was disappointing to 
Sloane, who, I imagined, had sent Mr. Lindley 
for information with confidence that the key 
would not be found. However, he did not allow 
it to disconcert him in the least. 

“ There is but one key to this gate, I suppose, 
sir ? ” 

“Yes,” replied Mr. Lindley, “ so far as I 
know.” 

“ The servants in going out always take it, I 
suppose ? ” 

“ They are presumed to, although, of course, 
they might possibly neglect to do so, in which 
case they would have to ring a bell at the gate 
or the front of the house to be admitted.” 

“ Or, begging your pardon, sir,” interrupted 
Dan,” come to the shtable and have me let 
them through that way, as Miss Winnie did 
last night.” 

“ Ah,” said Sloane quickly,” how was that ? ” 

“ I was sitting in the carriage-house door, 
slimoking my poipe and enjoying the cool even- 
ing air before bed-time, whin along came Miss 
Winnie with her pleasant face, and said she 
had no kay to the gate, and, as it was a little late, 
she didn’t loike to ring, so she thought she 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


59 


would go through the carriage-house way. I 
jumped up and opened the door, moighty glad 
to do her a favor, for she is a lady all over, 
spite of that lazy shpalpeen of a brother.” 

“ What time was that, Dan ? ” 

“ About tin o’clock, sir, for I was just afther 
going to bed, and that is my toime every night 
whin I am not out with the horses.” 

“ That will do, Dan, for the present.” 

“ Thank you, sir. I wish I could help you 
some way, sir, to catch the thief, and I am 
sorry now that I did not do it this morning.” 

“ You did right in letting this Richard go, if 
he is the person you mean as the thief, as, if we 
want him, we can easily get him.” 

“ I hope you may, sir, and you won’t go as- 
tray nayther,” said Dan, as he departed bowing 
to each of us. 

It was now past one o’clock, the investigation 
so far having taken nearly two hours. After 
consulting his watch, Sloane, turning to Mr. 
Lindley, said : 

“ As it will be necessary to get to work in 
other directions, if you will now let this Winnie 
appear, I will get through with her as soon as 
possible and get back to head-quarters. I will 
say just here that matters look quite encourag- 
ing for capturing both the diamonds and the 


60 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS . 


thief, and, if this girl’s testimony turns out as I 
anticipate, we shall unravel the whole mystery 
before night.” 

Of course both Mr. Lindley and myself knew 
to whom Sloane was pointing as the thief, and 
as we had the same grounds as he upon which 
to base our suspicions, we could not but agree 
with him in his conclusions. Though, if we 
drew our inferences wholly from Dan’s story, 
we must believe Winnie to be in league with 
her brother; for, supposing him to have the 
diamonds with her knowledge, why, if she were 
innocent and honest, should she help him to 
escape with them instead of try to detain 
him. But for one fact, we might have thought 
that she had discovered him prowling about the 
house while the family was at breakfast, and, 
watching him, had seen him steal the diamonds, 
when pouncing upon him she had forced him 
to give them up ; and, before he recovered from 
his fright, had got him out of the house as 
rapidly and quietly as possible. The one fact 
which stood against Winnie’s loyalty and hon- 
esty, as suggested by this view of the case, was 
that the diamonds were missing. Winnie knew 
that we were aware of this, and that, with the 
assistance of an officer of the law, we were in- 
vestigating the manner of their disappearance ; 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


61 


still we had no aid from her toward dispelling 
the mystery, which she could have cleared up 
at a word. 

Admitting that the girl might have a natural 
desire to shield from harm those who were near 
and dear to her, for myself, I must acknowledge 
that I could discover no reason for her to jeop- 
ardize her reputation by shielding this cowardly 
rascal, brother though he was. 

Although not a word passed between us, I 
am satisfied that these were about the thoughts 
of all three of us at the time Sloane requested 
Mr. Lindley to produce Winnie, and when she 
arrived, as she did shortly, the case against her 
looked bad enough. 


62 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS . 


CHAPTER VII. 

Of all the people connected with the house- 
hold I knew personally least of Winnie. I had, 
in my visits there, caught occasional glimpses 
of her and had noticed that she was passably 
good-looking, of good height and figure, fair 
complexion, bluish-gray eyes and light-brown 
wavy hair; that she appeared neatly, though 
plainly dressed, and seemed quite diffident and 
reserved in manner, giving me the impression 
that, for some cause, she wished to escape the 
critical observation of visitors. 

Knowing her history, I had attributed this 
shyness to a sort of discontent with her position 
in the house. I may have been wrong in this 
conclusion, but I had Kate’s authority for it 
that she was proud-spirited, and therefore 
thought that, like other people of spirit, when 
suddenly driven by adversity from a life of com- 
parative ease into a position of dependence, she 
inwardly chafed under her enforced servitude. 

As she came in now, at first glancing hurried- 
ly at Sloane and myself, then allowed her eyes 
to drop in a slightly confused manner just as 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS . 


63 


might be expected of an entirely innocent per- 
son, under like circumstances, it was plain that 
she had nerved herself for the interview, and 
excepting that she was very pale, there was 
nothing in her looks or manner indicating the 
unusual excitement which the events of the day 
must naturally have produced in one of her 
temperament. 

Mr. Lindley, indicating Sloane by a wave of 
his hand, told her that the gentleman wished to 
ask her a few questions, to which her only reply 
was a graceful bowing of her head to her em- 
ployer and a quiet glance at Sloane. 

Mr. Lindley and I withdrew a little way, and 
all remained standing during the interview. 

Sloane began by saying : 

“ Of course you know, Miss, what has brought 
me here, and likewise know that it is necessary 
for me, in trying to discover how, and by whom 
the robbery was committed, to carefully examine 
every incident which may seem to have any 
bearing upon the case.” An approving nod 
from Winnie. “ There are certain circumstances 
which seem to be capable of explanation by you 
alone, as you seem to have been the only person 
of the household who was up-stairs at the time 
the jewels were taken.” Another nod from 
Winnie, who, up to this time, had not spoken a 
word, but stood looking fixedly at Sloane. 


64 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


He at once commenced his inquiries in an 
off-hand way, and, as he proceeded, frequently 
changed his position, sometimes walking up and 
down, his hands in his pockets and his eyes 
wandering about the room, occasionally, as he 
rapidly put a question, stopping short and look- 
ing the girl squarely in the face. 

Winnie on her part treated him most re- 
spectfully, answering his questions generally 
with promptness and in a clear, though very 
low voice. 

He first asked her about the disordered state 
of the rooms, which she explained, by saying 
that her mortification at being discovered, by Mr. 
Lindley, trying on the earrings and his apparent 
displeasure toward her, as shown by his actions, 
had quite unnerved her, and she had at once 
left the rooms which she had entered to attend 
to her usual duties there. Some time after, #s 
she was on her way to tidy up the rooms, she 
met Miss Lindley, who, after telling her of 
the robbery, had instructed her to go down- 
stairs, leaving everything up-st&irs undisturbed. 
About the window over the porch nothing was 
elicited beyond a confirmation of Miss Lindley’s 
statement that she, Winnie, had complained of 
the difficulty in opening it, and that Miss 
Lindley had told her to omit doing so until it 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


65 


was repaired, since which time she had never 
disturbed it. 

“ Were you surprised, when you first came 
into the rooms this morning, at seeing the 
diamonds upon the dressing table ? ” 

“Not at all, sir; Miss Lindley commonly 
allows her jewelry to be exposed in that 
manner.” 

“ But so large a number of valuable ear- 
rings must naturally, I should think, have 
caused you some surprise.” 

“ It might under ordinary circumstances have 
done so, sir, as the display was quite unusual, 
but, knowing the conditions under which the 
diamonds were in the house, I saw nothing 
unnatural about it.” 

“ Miss Lindley told you of them last night, 
then ? ” 

“ Yes, sir, as I came in to ask her per- 
mission to run over home a while I found 
her examining them, and she told me about 
Mr. Hopkins having brought them at her 
father’s request for her to make a selection 
from. She showed me the pair she had chosen 
and asked my opinion upon her choice.” 

“You then went out and to your mother’s? 
About what time was this ? ” 

“ I do not know exactly, but somewhere 

between eight and nine.” 

5 


6<5 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


“ Did you take the key of the gate with you, 
as I hear it is customary for you to do ? ” 

Winnie showed a little hesitancy in answer- 
ing this question, but finally said. “ Yes, sir.” 

“ Where did you say your mother lives ? ” 

“ I did not say, but she lives at number — 
East — th St.” 

“ Ah, not a long walk. She lives there alone 
with your brother, I believe ? ” 

“ Yes, sir.” 

“ Anybody there besides them when you 
were there last night?” 

“ No, sir.” 

“ I suppose you told your mother and brother 
about Miss Lindley’s birthday gift ? ” 

“ I did mention it to mother, but as my brother 
was asleep upon a lounge pretty much all the 
time that I was in the house, I cannot say 
whether or not he heard what I said. At any 
rate, I don’t remember that he showed any in- 
terest in it.” 

“ When you came back here you came in by 
the gate as usual, I suppose ? ” 

Here Sloane who had been walking back and 
forth, with his head lowered, and his eyes cast 
down almost in a line with his feet, suddenly 
stopped in front of Winnie, looking straight 
into her eyes. If she had not before suspected 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


67 


that Sloane was questioning her for some other 
purpose than merely, as he told her, to have 
her explain certain points which might appear to 
bear upon the case, this question must have con- 
vinced her that she was under suspicion. As a 
matter of fact, I believed from the first that she 
had anticipated this, and was consequently in 
better form to meet his wily questions. Be- 
sides, she must have known that Dan had been 
put through a course of questions, and would 
naturally conclude that he had told all that he 
knew. At all events, beyond a momentary 
start as Sloane so suddenly stopped in front of 
her, she showed no especial agitation. 

“No, sir; for when I arrived at the gate I 
found that I had lost the key. Then I went 
around to the stable and Dan, the coachman, 
let me through into the yard, as I presume he 
told you,” added Winnie with a rather scornful 
look at the officer. 

“ How do you account for the loss of the 
key ? Where did you place it on going out ? ’ 

“ In the pocket of my sacque, but, as the 
evening was warm, I removed the sacque 
when I reached my mother’s. It must have 
dropped from the pocket as I took it off, or in 
putting it on again before leaving.” 

“ You are sure of this and have not seen it 
since ? ” 


68 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


“ Yes, sir, I have.” 

“ Indeed, when and where ? ” 

“ My brother brought it around this morning 
and gave it to me, and I hung it up in its pro- 
per place, beside the basement door.” 

“ He used it, I suppose, in entering the gate ? ” 
“ I presume so, sir.” 

These responses I could plainly see were 
somewhat disappointing to Sloane, as I freely 
acknowledge they were to myself. If Winnie 
were telling the truth, and the whole truth, the 
case against her was weakening ; while if she 
were lying, it was evident that she had had 
plenty of time to prepare for herself plausible 
explanations of all the compromising circum- 
stances of which she suspected us to be aware. 
“ This brother, does he often visit you ? ” 

“ Not very, but quite as often as he is wel- 
come.” 

“ Not much love between you, I think, Miss ? ” 
“ No, sir; although, if Richard would behave 
himself as he should, God knows I would only 
be too glad to regard him more as a brother and 
less as a trouble to mother and me. Only this 
morning, making an excuse to come here about 
the key, he came up to my room, and I was 
obliged to give him money in order to prevent 
his making a disturbance here. I finally had 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


69 


almost to push him out of the house while 
threatening to call Mr. Lindley. This had its 
effect and he scampered way.” 

Thus Winnie had, in her way, explained 
Dan’s story voluntarily, instead of putting Sloane 
to the trouble of drawing it out piecemeal. She 
remained perfectly cool and self-possessed. If 
she were acting a part, she was doing it without 
a fault. 

After one or two unimportant questions, 
asked in a very respectful manner, and which I 
thought he improvised in order to regain her 
confidence, Sloane politely informed her that he 
could think of nothing further just then which 
he desired to ask her. 

“ It will be necessary, however,” he said, “ to 
look over your room, as well as those of the ser- 
vants, more as a matter of form perhaps, than 
with any idea of discovering the lost property. 
My duty, Miss, requires this as well as many 
other proceedings on my part which are any- 
thing but agreeable.” 

“ You are perfectly welcome, sir, to any as- 
sistance I can give you, in 'any way,” replied 
Winnie blandly, and Sloane, turning to Mr. 
Lindley, suggested making the search imme- 
diately. 

Accompanied by Winnie they started, while 
I went down stairs to await the result. 


70 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


I found Kate in the library, and she appeared 
pleased at my coming. I could see that, although 
she was trying to make light of the affair of the 
diamonds, she was considerably cut up over it; 
first, because she was directly though innocently 
the cause of the loss, and further, because she 
must know that Winnie was suspected of com- 
plicity in the theft. 

Kate prided herself upon her household man 
agement, and for one so young she certainly 
did possess unusual abilities in that line. After 
her mother’s death, for several years the house 
had been managed by a thorough-going, practi- 
cal housekeeper, whom Mr. Lindley had 
directed to instruct Kate as she grew up in the 
science and mysteries of household economy. 
Kate took readily to the task, and under her 
very competent teacher, with an inborn apti- 
tude for it, had progressed so well that at six- 
teen she had assumed control of domestic af- 
tairs, including the selection of servants. She 
had experienced considerable difficulty in the 
latter connection except in the kitchen and 
dining room, where Mary and her son were 
permanent fixtures, and had decided, at the 
time she took on Winnie, to do without any 
regular chambermaid, dividing the duties in that 
way, and what plain sewing was done in the 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


71 


house between herself and Winnie. She told 
her father, when he remonstrated with her, that 
there was hardly enough work about it to furnish 
her with necessary exercise, and, besides, it 
would make the situation easier for Winnie, to 
whom she seemed to take a liking on first ac- 
quaintance. As she was accustomed to having 
her way in such matters, and as he could see no 
real objection to the arrangement, Mr. Lindley 
made no further opposition. 

As shown by her statement to Sloane, Kate 
had unlimited confidence in Winnie, in fact had 
made almost a companion of her, and I was 
sure that it would require strong proofs to in- 
duce Kate to lessen her belief in her faithfulness. 
It was not for me to undertake the task, in any 
event, and, as I was not as confident myself that 
we were upon the right track as I had been 
previous to Sloane’s examination of the girl, I 
responded to Kate’s anxious inquiries as to the 
result of our interview with Winnie with eva- 
sive replies. I told her that the affair was 
somewhat mysterious as yet, but that Winnie 
was not clear of suspicion ; acknowledged that 
she had made a pretty good case in her own de- 
fense, but, as there was no proof as yet available 
as to the truth of her statements, of course we 
had only her word to rely upon. 


72 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


“ And a good reliance it is, Fred, at least I 
have always found it to be so.” 

“No doubt you have Kate, and that you 
should believe in her truthfulness under present 
circumstances is excusable perhaps, as it is cer- 
tainly meritorious on your part. For myself I 
have no positive opinion to express. From any 
point of view the affair to me is as mysterious 
as ever. But, excuse me, I hear Sloane and 
your father coming. Perhaps they may have 
something new.” 

“ Well, Mr. Hopkins,” said Sloane as he came 
in, “ we have made no discoveries, and as the 
diamonds are evidently not in the house 
here, unless they are locked in the safe up- 
stairs, which it seems only Miss Lindley can 
open, I must hurry around to head-quarters and 
start things working from there. Will you go 
with me, sir ? as without losing any more time, 
I desire to talk with you a little. Not to leave 
anything undone here, however, I should be 
pleased to have you go up, Miss Lindley, and 
look the safe over before we go. We will await 
your return here.” 

“ Wouldn’t it be too funny if the diamonds 
should be there ? ” laughed Kate, as she started 
to leave. 

“ More serious than funny I should say, as it 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


73 


might involve the necessity of confining some 
one in an insane asylum until she should recover 
her wits,” retorted Mr. Lindley rather petu- 
lantly. The affair was evidently beginning to 
disturb his usual good temper. 

Of course nothing came of the search in the 
safe, Kate reporting everything there as she had 
left it in the morning, and I signified to Sloane 
my readiness to accompany him as proposed. 
Mr. Lindley cautioned the latter to keep matters 
as quiet as possible, as he did not fancy the 
notoriety which a publication of the affair would 
create. Sloane promised to let them know im- 
mediately if any further developments were 
made, and it was agreed that we should both 
return to the house for further conference at 
nine o’clock in the evening. Pierre would then 
be at home, and his views of the case might 
possibly be of service to us. Mr. Lindley was 
going down town immediately after lunch, on 
business of his own, and would be at Pierre’s 
office, where he would explain matters to him. 


74 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


CHAPTER VIII. 

Sloane did not talk much on the way down 
in the cars, but upon our arriving at head- 
quarters, after a short interview with his chief, 
he invited me into a private room and we went 
over the case together. 

I found pretty soon that despite Winnie’s 
plausible story, and her calm collected manner 
during her examination, Sloane firmly believed 
in her guilt ; that she was either implicated 
with her brother in the theft, or that, knowing 
him to have stolen the diamonds, she assisted in 
his escape from the house with the booty. 

“ There is no other construction to be put 
upon her actions. Of course she makes up a 
good story to tell us, knowing where our sus- 
picions lie, and knowing also just what led us 
to have such suspicions. I don’t think that she 
knew about Dan having seen her brother enter 
the house by the gate, and her hurrying him 
out by the back door ; but she didn’t dare to 
take any chances on that after I caught her a little 
off her guard about losing the key and coming 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS 


in by the stable. She surmised that Dan 
had told all he knew, and she was not quite 
sure how much that might be, so she rattled off 
the latter part of her story without interrup- 
tions by me and made things fit together very 
nicely. It was well done, I admit, but she had 
time enough to prepare herself, and I am not 
much surprised at the result. She is a keen 
one, but I have assisted in bringing just as 
sharp ones as she is to grief, and with less show 
than I have in her case.” 

I could see much good reasoning in Sloane’s 
views, but yet, remembering Winnie’s previous 
good record, could hardly bring myself to 
believe her as artful, deceitful and wicked as 
his language implied her to be, and told him 
so. 

“ I am not surprised, Mr. Hopkins, in fact 
should be more surprised, if, with your supposed 
knowledge of the girl, you should be easily con- 
vinced of her guilt. In my capacity as a detec- 
tive I must drop any fine feelings of sentiment 
(if I ever have any) and study circumstances 
and people from a matter-of-fact point of view. 
My calling, sir, is not one calculated for chari- 
table, kindly disposed sort of people to follow.” 

As the truth of this remark was so self-evident 
it required no comments from me. 


70 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


“ Now let me explain some other incidents in 
this case which may help to convince you that 
I am not so far off the track after all. My first 
impression as to the robbery was that it had been 
committed by a professional burglar, as I did 
not attach any importance to Mr. Lindley ’s dis- 
covery of the girl trying on the ear-rings. But 
later discoveries drove that idea out of my mind, 
and convinced me that the diamonds were 
taken by or with the assistance of some one 
living in the house. No professional thief 
would ever have unlocked that bureau drawer, 
and, after taking the jewels, have so carefully 
relocked it. Nor would he have limited his 
booty to the diamonds alone when there were 
so many other valuables within reach. How 
should he have known that the diamonds were 
in that drawer, even if he knew they were in the 
house ? There was only one solution to the 
question, which, to my mind, gave any sort of 
color to the professional theory. The thief 
might have entered the house by some means 
before the family had gone down-stairs, and, re- 
maining in concealment, have seen the dia- 
monds secreted by Mr. Lindley. But if so, he 
must have entered the house between six and 
say eight o’clock, as Mr. Lindley tells me it 
was somewhere about eight o’clock when he 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


77 


went down to breakfast. As the burglar-alarm 
seems to be in working order, it would have 
indicated any attempted entrance before six 
o’clock, at which time it would cease to work. 
As the servants were by that hour moving 
around the lower part of the house, while some 
of the people up-stairs might reasonably be 
supposed to be awake, if not already up, (in fact 
both Mr. Lindley and his son were up, as. he 
tells me) a thief entering at such time would 
have to take more chances of detection than 
such people like to risk. 

“ Then there remains the evidence of the 
open window in Mr. Lindley’s room. That is 
the strongest link in the case against the girl, 
and shows the cool, deliberate manner in which 
she performed her part of the robbery, and 
tried to throw us off the scent.” 

“ How is that, Mr. Sloane ? ” I inquired 
eagerly, for I had kept that window in mind as 
indicating the means by which the thief had 
gained entrance, and it was really a strong 
point with me in Winnie’s favor. 

“ That window was opened by the thief, Mr. 
Hopkins, but it was done from the inside and 
not, as you imagine and I at first thought, as a 
means of entering or leaving the house, but to 
give us a false clue. The colored boy, Jerry, 


78 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


and the paint on the roof of the porch helped 
me out of that.” 

“ In what way ? ” I asked, getting very much 
interested. . 

“ The new paint don’t show a scratch, ex- 
cepting close to the house, where the boy stood 
upon it while washing the window. No person 
could clamber over the edge of that roof, going 
either up or down, without leaving some marks or 
scratches upon the paint. In addition to this, 
there are no marks showing that the metal fast- 
ening has been tampered with, and you can 
believe, from the stiff working of it, that it 
would take considerable force to move it by 
operating with a knife-blade between the sashes. 
That is the plan generally adopted by thieves 
when they do not remove any glass, and the 
evidence of it is always plainly seen upon the 
woodwork or the fastening itself. Yes, sir, the 
girl or her brother opened that window. It 
was a pretty cunning piece of work, as far as it 
went, but, like many cases which I have come 
across, where studied attempts to mislead pursuit 
have been employed, it has only served to fur- 
nish additional evidence against the culprit.” 

“ How do you explain the locking of the 
bureau drawer? ” I inquired. 

“ Not at all, unless that it was an accident,” 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


79 


he replied at once. “ You see, sir, the locks 
upon ordinary articles of furniture are usually 
very plain and simple, and it is quite a common 
thing to find a key which will open many of 
them, sometimes a single key answers for a 
whole chest of drawers.” 

“Yet with Mr. Lindley’s bureau you found 
that not to be the case,” I said. 

“ True, and I tried that key to make sure. 
The trouble with it was that it belonged to a 
finer lock than that which the thief opened, 
and, as you saw, it would not even enter the 
common lock. If Mr. Lindley had locked the 
diamonds in the drawer from which I took the 
key, it is my opinion that they would still have 
been there when he came to look for them. 
Either the girl or her brother had some ordi- 
nary drawer key which fitted the lock, and 
opened it without much trouble. In withdraw- 
ing the key, after securing the booty, the 
drawer may have been accidentally locked.” 

“ Well, Sloane, you appear to make a pretty 
clear case against these people, I must confess,” 
I said, after a moment, as he seemed to have 
finished. “ Now, how are you going to pro- 
ceed ? ” 

“ First, I want to see this likely brother, and, 
if things turn out as I hope, he should be here 


80 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


very soon. The chief has sent a couple of 
men around to arrest him, if he is at home, and 
to search his mother’s rooms for the jewelry.” 

“ Do you think, that, after so long a time has 
elapsed since the theft, either will be found 
there ? ” 

“ As to the man, yes, but as to the diamonds, 
no. This fellow, Richard Evans they call him, 
is not a known thief. He is probably only a 
lazy, loaferish kind of a chap who won’t work 
for a living as long as his mother and sister 
will keep him in a home, and furnish a moder- 
ate supply of pocket money for him to spend in 
beer and tobacco among others of his kind. 
Such a life naturally leads on to something 
worse, and then we have more interest here in 
keeping track of the gang. He comes of a little 
better stock than most of his fellows, and con- 
sequently aims a little higher in his ambition 
to steal than do the others, with whom till- 
tapping and sneak-thieving in a small way will 
serve as a beginning.” 

“ Then you acknowledge a sort of aristocracy 
even among thieves ? ” I said, considerably 
amused at Sloane’s way of putting it. 

“ I am obliged to,” he replied. “ Why, a first- 
class cracksman will no more mix with a pick- 
pocket, or a successful forger or counterfeiter 


a FLvnnr tn diamonds. si 

with a common thief, than will one of our 
‘crooked’ aldermen or indiscreet bank presidents 
or cashiers with criminals of a lower grade than 
themselves, whom they may meet behind prison 
bars, or ‘ enjoying the freedom of Canada.’ 
This Richard, like his sister, is poor and prob- 
ably proud. He heard her describe the dia- 
monds to his mother, or perhaps to himself, 
and, either of himself or with her connivance, 
planned to get them. The gate key may have 
been accidentally dropped upon the floor, or it 
may have been purposely placed in his posses- 
sion. 

“ At all events, barring a slip or two, their 
plans worked all right, and Richard, aided by 
his sister, got the diamonds. Or, he may have 
planned it out alone, after finding the key, and 
getting into the house, ran across his sister, and 
being opposed by her, may have threatened her 
in some way, and thus, by frightening her, have 
obtained, if not her assistance, at least her prom- 
ise of secrecy. This latter is the most chari- 
table view I can take of the girl, and even at 
that she must either have shown him where the 
diamonds were secreted or have opened the 
drawer herself under threats from him. Dur- 
ing my whole questioning of her, though she 
showed no outward signs of excitement or emo- 
6 


82 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


tion, as even innocent persons sometimes will, 
in a similar position, yet I could see, that, be- 
neath the surface, there was something held 
back which her very plausible story did not 
account for. She knows I do not believe in 
her, and you will find out, Mr. Hopkins, when 
this case is cleared up, that I am right, and that 
she has not told everything she knows about 
it.” 

“ It looks that way, Sloane,” I replied, “ but, 
unless you find the diamonds upon one or the 
other of them, I doubt if you ever convince 
Miss Lindley of Winnie’s guilt. By the way, 
you have said nothing as to your views upon 
the disposition of the diamonds, and, as I am 
more interested in them than I am in the 
capture of the thief, I am anxious to know 
what prospect we have of securing them.” 

“ Our people here are now hunting the pawn 
shops and purchasers of that kind of goods and 
will probably come across them somewhere, or 
at least get information of them, and before 
long. Richard undoubtedly has disposed of 
some, if not all of them, before this, and it being 
his first great offense, he will be afraid of his 
shadow for awhile.” 

“ Why do you think your men will find him at 
home ? ” 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. $3 

“ Because he has had time enough to sell or 
pledge the diamonds, and will want to get some- 
where to conceal the money obtained for them. 
He is new to the business, and probably not 
acquainted around the usual hiding-places of 
thieves, and he will likely hide himself and the 
money about home for awhile. It is time we 
heard from there.” Sloane had hardly fin- 
ished speaking when, in answer to a tap upon 
the door, he jumped up, and partially opening 
it, had a short conference with some person 
outside. Closing the door again, he turned 
toward me with a self-satisfied look, and said : 

“ Well, sir, we have got him, and he will be 
here in a moment.” And,- surely enough the door 
presently opened again, and the superintendent 
came in accompanying a young fellow, who, 
though a stranger to me, I could readily believe 
was Winnie’s brother. 

He looked to be about twenty years old, was 
rather undersized in height, but of solid, blocky 
build. His light hair was cut short, and his 
upper lip was only part concealed by a weak 
apology for a mustache of somewhat sandy hue. 
He had eyes of similar color and natural ex- 
pression to those of his sister, and there was 
something in the general cast of his features 
which one could easily construe into a resem- 


84 A FL URR T IN DIAMONDS. 

blance to her. But, beyond this look of family 
connection, there was no similarity of either ap- 
pearance or manner between them. His ir- 
regular, dissipated habits were already telling 
upon him, in his eyes, which were heavy look- 
ing and dull, in his face, which showed the 
smooth, shiny, puffy appearance so common 
among beer-drinkers, in his uneasy, nervous 
manner, causing him to be fidgety with his 
hands and legs and to keep his jaws constantly 
in motion upon a quid of tobacco in his mouth. 
Notwithstanding an air of bravado which he 
was trying to assume, he had a scared look 
about him, and showed, I thought, that he felt 
himself in a bad fix. 

He was examined at length by the superin- 
tendent and Sloane, in my presence, and, to my 
surprise, notwithstanding his apparent discom- 
fort and uneasiness under their masterly ques- 
tioning and cross-questioning and wily attempts 
to draw something additional out of him, he re- 
peated Winnie’s statements concerning his visit 
to the house in every detail. He hesitated 
often over the questions, and tried to shirk 
some of them. This was especially the case 
with questions pertaining to his forcing money 
from his sister, and to her threatening to call 
upon Mr. Lindley to eject him. At this point 


A FLU mi Y IN DIAMONDS. 


85 


he volunteered the statement that he had gone 
directly home from Mr. Lindley’s, and had re- 
mained there until his arrest. He appeared to 
gain confidence in himself as he proceeded, and 
when the officers had finished with him, I could 
see an air of triumph about him which, I thought, 
boded no good to him. I feared that it would 
magnify his ideas of his own cleverness in this 
his first experience with the police. His exam- 
ination over, he was taken out of the room by 
the two officers. 

At his request, I remained until Sloane re- 
turned, which he did after considerable delay. I 
soon learned from him that nothing had been 
found either upon the prisoner or at his home, 
which implicated him in the theft, but that they 
were going to hold him at head-quarters quietly, 
pending further developments. No reports had 
yet been received from the officers sent out 
among the pawnshops and dealers, but it was 
hardly time to expect them yet. 

I judged by Sloane’s humor that he was dis- 
appointed at the result of the interview with 
Richard. He appeared indisposed to talk much, 
and I got the foregoing information in brief re- 
plies to my questions. Finally, I asked him 
bluntly whether or not Richard’s statements 
had changed his views of the case any, to which 


86 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


he answered, rather pettishly : “ No, sir, not in 
the least, but if we had arrested the girl first 
and kept her out of the way, we might have 
saved ourselves some trouble.” 

“ Why/’ I asked, “ what has she done ? ” 

“ Done ? Why, as soon as we left the house, 
she hurried right over to her mother’s, saw her 
brother and fixed up his story for him,” he an- 
swered vexatiously. 

“ How do you know that ? ” I asked. 

“ Why, as our men got to the house they saw 
her hurrying away, at least they saw a woman 
leave the house whose description tallies with 
the girl’s. Besides, they had nearly got the old 
lady to acknowledge that she had been there be- 
fore the son cautioned her to keep still, which 
he did at once when he saw what they were 
driving at. I suspected, when the fellow first 
began to answer our questions, that he had been 
posted in his sister’s story. Of course, it is too 
late now to remedy the matter, but if I had 
suspected that she would be up to any such 
games, I should have instructed the men to ar- 
rest her if they found her in the neighborhood. 
Her visit may also account for our failure to 
find either the diamonds or money there,” 
added Sloane. 

“ How ? ” I inquired* 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 87 

“ By her having taken charge of them herself 
and carried them away with her. You remem- 
ber Richard said that he went straight away 
home this morning after being hustled out of 
the house by his sister, and had not left there 
again previous to his arrest. Though I placed 
no weight upon his statement at the time, I now 
believe that part of his story to be true, and, 
that, in place of his disposing of the diamonds 
outside, he still had them when his sister came 
around to caution him against us, and that the 
diamonds went back to Mr. Lindley’s house with 
her." 

Sloane made this announcement very earn- 
estly, and, in a somewhat excited manner, em- 
phasized his thorough reliance upon this new 
aspect of the case. Not fully comprehending 
the drift of his deductions, and somewhat taken 
aback by the sudden change in his views, I 
said : 

“ But how do you account for such action on 
Winnie’s part, supposing you to be right in 
your suspicion ? ” 

“In either one of two ways,” he replied, re- 
suming his usual coolness and self-possession. 
“ The girl, having no reason to fear a further 
search at the house, thinks quite naturally that 
they can be safely secreted there until, the ex- 


8$ A FL UBli T IN DIAMONDS. 

citement over, the theft having subsided, they 
can be otherwise disposed of. This is one way 
of accounting for her running so much risk in 
transferring them to her own keeping. The 
other way of explaining it, and the one in which 
just now I fully believe, is this: that Winnie, 
seeing her danger, and that of her brother, has 
also seen the folly of longer concealing the dia- 
monds, and, having secured them from her 
brother, by exaggerating his danger, will return 
them to Miss Lindley, if she has not already 
done so, with some sort of explanation, part 
true and part false, as to how she came to re- 
cover them. In doing this she must criminate 
her brother, but she will do her best for him, 
and the result will be that Miss Lindley will 
believe all she tells her, show great pity for her 
in having such a scapegoat of a brother, and, 
shedding tears in sympathy with Winnie’s at 
the disgrace she pretends to feel over the affair, 
will end it all by going to her father with the 
diamonds, and, convincing him of Winnie’s 
faithfulness, beg him as a favor to herself not 
to push the case against Richard. Mr. Lindley, 
seeing that the diamonds are restored, and to 
avoid any publicity of the scandal, for Winnie’s 
sake, is prevailed upon to give his assent, and 
everybody is happy. 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


89 


“ It is not the first instance of the kind which 
has come into my experience. Though not the 
most agreeable ending to be desired, it is one 
which it is not in my power to prevent.” 

As Sloane proceeded he grew warm and de- 
cided, and I saw that he was confident of the 
correctness of his opinion, which certainly did 
seem to be based upon evidences suggesting its 
soundness. Without expressing either ap- 
proval of or dissent from his views, I said : 

“ I suppose then you have nothing to do but 
to return at once to Mr. Lindley’s for a verifi- 
cation of one or the other of your theories, 
either of which should result in the recovery of 
the diamonds to make it hold good ? ” 

“ That would at first seem the proper course 
to follow, but a little reflection will show you, 
as it does me, that it is better for me to stay 
away from there until the appointed time this 
evening. If the girl is concealing the jewels 
(which she would only risk doing in the belief 
that her visit to her mother was not known to 
me) they will be safe for some time to come. If, 
as I believe, she has restored them, why, of 
course, my services will be no longer required. 
I shall keep my appointment and, if my predic- 
tion as to the surrrender of the jewels shouldnot 
be verified, it will be time enough then to make 
another search for them. If such search is 


90 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


necessary I will bet a big apple that it will 
result in my finding the diamonds. In either 
case you see I consider the affair as good as 
settled. We shall hold the fellow Richard 
pending the result, as we don’t propose having 
any more conferences between him and his 
sister, though, for myself, I don’t think there 
would be any danger of that, even if he were 
at liberty. Still, it is best to keep on the safe 
side. Any little slip just now might cause us 
much trouble.” 

Looking at my watch I discovered that if I 
were to meet my mother at the store, as I had 
promised father I should do, it would be neces- 
sary for me to be off at once. Rising to go, 
I congratulated Sloane upon his hopeful view 
of the case, but added laughingly that I should 
feel better satisfied on my own part when I got 
possession of the diamonds. 

“ Well, Mr. Hopkins,” he said, as he shook 
my hand, “ I am not much given to boasting 
of my abilities, nor of my powers as a prophet 
but I tell you candidly that I should be willing, 
for five dollars, to guarantee the truth of my 
prediction that, at our meeting to-night at Mr. 
Lindley’s, the mystery of the diamonds, will be 
solved in one of the two ways I have mem 
tioned.” 


A FLURRY 1$ DIAMONDS. 


91 


“ I hope so, sir, and can assure you that if it 
so turns out you will be amply rewarded for 
your services. Good-bye, then, till to-night.” 


32 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


IX. 

I hurried around to the store and found my 
mother awaiting my arrival rather anxiously, 
as it lacked but a half hour of the time for the 
steamer to leave. Father, having left the store 
some time before to attend to some little pur- 
chases for their comfort on the trip, had left 
her there for me to escort to the boat, where he 
would meet us. I sent one of the clerks out to 
find a carriage, which took some time and, by 
the time we started, we had only about fifteen 
minutes in which to drive to the pier, nearly a 
mile away through streets crowded, at that 
time of day, with vehicles of every description. 
Good-natured bantering of the driver as to the 
qualities of his horses and the promise of an 
extra fee for prompt driving resulted in our 
reaching the boat just as the gang-plank was 
about to be hauled off. Father was standing 
on the deck at the passage-way, looking consid- 
erably worried, and I had only time to pass 
mother over to his charge, bid them both ‘ good- 
bye ’ and wish them a pleasant journey as I was 
warned off the boat, reaching the dock just as 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 93 

the plank began to move and the lines were 
cast off. 

Returning to the store I looked over what 
letters had arrived in my absence, properly dis- 
posing of such as father had left for me to 
attend to, glanced over the sales of the day and 
at whatever new stock had arrived from the 
factory ; in fact, busied myself in a general way 
over the various details of business requiring 
my attention. Nothing of any special impor- 
tance appeared to have occurred during my 
absence excepting that our head salesman, Mr. 
Watson, had stopped in for any further in- 
structions which I might have for him, before 
leaving upon his regular trip to Boston and 
other eastern cities, and for which his stock of 
jewelry had previously been selected and 
packed. I was a little sorry at first that I had 
not arrived before he left, as I had in mind 
some special patterns which I wished to add to 
his assortment. But, when I happened to re- 
member that a considerable part of those goods 
was included in the lot which had so mysteri- 
ously disappeared up at the Lindley’s, I con- 
cluded that it was perhaps as well, after all, that 
he had gone. If I should recover the dia- 
monds that evening, as Sloane predicted, I 
could send them after him, by express, without 


94 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


much loss of time. I intended to have told 
father all about the robbery, but, as I had no 
opportunity of doing so, concluded that it was 
just as well that he should not know of it then, 
as it would in some degree interfere with the 
pleasure of his trip. I knew that the house would 
lose nothing even if the jewelry were not found, 
as, from my knowledge of Mr. Lindley, I was cer- 
tain that, if the diamonds were not forthcoming 
within a reasonable time, he would insist upon 
paying us the full value of them. Legally, per- 
haps, he was not responsible to us, but I knew 
that in considering the circumstances connected 
with the theft of them, he would feel in honor 
bound to make good our loss, even though the 
diamonds were left at his house voluntarily by 
me and partly to relieve myself of their care. 

No person at the store was aware of the loss, 
nor for that matter of my having taken them 
away with me. No entry had been made of 
them, excepting that I had made a memoran- 
dum of them, by their marks and numbers, in 
a private book of my own. I said nothing to 
anybody about them, and, though I felt con- 
siderable anxiety over the matter, concealed my 
feelings as well as possible, so that I am sure 
none of the clerks suspected anything as having 
gone wrong. 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


95 


I felt relieved when, in an hour or so after 
my return from the boat, and the day’s business 
being concluded, I set off on my way up town. 

I had eaten nothing since breakfast, and, now 
that the day’s excitement was over, was feeling 
the effect of my long fast in a famishing ap- 
petite. I stopped in at a restaurant and ate a 
hearty meal, washing it down with a small bottle 
of Chateau Margaux , after which, considerably 
refreshed in mind and body, I proceeded to my 
quarters at the hotel, where I passed an hour 
or so in quietly smoking and ruminating over 
the incidents of the day. 

My faith in Sloane was strong, and he seemed 
to have worked out a very ingenious solution 
to the mystery, but despite all that, I found my- 
self somehow lacking the full confidence in 
his theory which he himself appeared to have. 
I could find no weak points in it, it ap- 
peared to cover all the plain facts as well 
as the more mysterious and contradictory 
incidents and circumstances of the day, 
but still I could not attribute Kate’s faith 
in Winnie, through thick and thin, to a girlish 
sentimentality such as Sloane had indicated. 
I knew Kate too well for that. The responsi- 
bilities which she had assumed in her girl life 
had made a woman of her at an early age. Of 


96 


A FLURBY IN DIAMONDS. 


a lively cheerful disposition naturally, she had 
taken her cares lightly enough, but yet she had 
a matronly way about her in the business affairs 
of the household which one would scarcely 
look for in one of her years and disposition. 
That she had been associated for nearly two 
years with Winnie without learning something 
of her nature, I did not believe, nor could I 
agree with Sloane, with all his experience, that 
Kate did not have good grounds for her trust 
in the girl. Kate had seen considerable of 
society and not a little of the w r orld, in numer- 
ous summer tours about the watering places, 
accompanied by her father and Pierre, was 
quite a student of human nature, and could see 
the weak side of an individual as quickly as any 
person I ever knew. Yet, if Sloane’s deductions 
in the case in its present aspects were correct, 
Kate’s confidence had all along been most sadly 
misplaced ; while she had allowed her sympa- 
thies to overcome her better judgment, I could 
believe it possible for Winnie, in a fit of envy, 
contrasting the wide difference in position 
between her fortunate young mistress and her- 
self, to have been suddenly blinded by the glare 
of the diamonds, and, perhaps, to have stolen 
them, without much thought of the conse- 
quences which might follow such action. But, 


A FLURRY IX DIAMONDS. 


or 


that she should have connived with her 
brother, for whom she had neither sympathy 
nor affection, in thus robbing her best friends, 
denoted a state of depravity and wickedness in 
the girl which it seemed to me she could not, 
for so long a time, have concealed from Kate. 

But further speculation upon the case seemed 
useless, as I should soon know the result of 
Sloane’s predictions. 


7 


98 


A FLURRY IN DIAMOMDS. 


CHAPTER X. 

At the appointed time I appeared at Mr. 
Lindley’s, and, being admitted by Jerry, was 
scarcely within the hall when Kate, coming 
from the parlor hurriedly, came toward me 
with her finger on her lips and, whispering to 
me that there were some callers in the parlor, 
requested me to go into the library and wait for 
her, as she had something of importance to tell 
me. She “ would not be long detained by her 
friends,” she thought, “ as they had already been 
there some time.” She seemed flurried and 
excited, more so than I had ever before seen 
her, I thought, although, as she turned to go 
back to her callers, she appeared to restrain her 
feelings. I went into the library, picked up an 
evening paper and seating myself began looking 
it over. I could not get interested in the news 
however, as Kate’s words and manner had so 
impressed me that I could not concentrate my 
thoughts upon anything else, but kept turning 
and folding the sheet, glancing here and there 
through its columns, in continual expectancy of 
her coming. 


A FLUB nr IN DIAMONDS. 


99 


I was inwardly amused at Kate’s mysterious 
secrecy, and enjoyed in advance her discomfiture 
when she should learn that her startling develop- 
ments were not at all unexpected by me. 
Sloane’s predictions then must have been veri- 
fied and Winnie had restored the stolen dia- 
monds. For the details of the story I should 
have to await Kate’s coming. It seemed to 
me her callers would never leave. I wondered 
what especial subject of gossip or fashion in 
dress could so interest them, when presently, I 
heard their voices in the hall as they departed, 
and Kate, in a moment, came in looking 
relieved. 

“ Has Sloane arrived yet ? ” I asked her, as 
I arose to meet her. 

“ Yes,” she replied. “ He just now came in, 
and is up-stairs with papa.” 

“Shall I go up or will they come down 
here ? ” I inquired. 

Hesitating a moment, she answered me : 

“You would better remain here, as I have 
something to talk about with you. As you may 
wish to see Mr. Sloane before he leaves I will 
give orders to that effect, if you desire it.” 

Not understanding just what this remark im- 
plied, I said : 

“ I expected to meet him here this evening, 


100 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


as you know, and certainly shall disappoint my- 
self and him if I fail to do so.” 

“ All right, I will see that neither is disap- 
pointed,” she replied as she left the room. 

Returning in a few moments, now visibly ex- 
cited, she came toward me, with her hand in 
her dress pocket. As she withdrew her hand I 
saw that it contained a photographic card which 
she handed to me, face downward, as she said, 
with considerable emotion : 

“ Fred, please read what is written upon the 
back of that card and then tell me what you 
think of it.” 

Taking it from her I quickly read what fol- 
lows, written with pencil in a hurried manner, 
but unmistakably in Pierre’s hand : — 

Kate — 

As neither you nor father appear to be 
proper custodians of the diamonds, I have 
taken charge of them, to prevent them falling into 
the hands of some less worthy person. You 
will probably never see them again, but, as you 
had your pick out of them last night, you will 
not miss them. If Fred calls, before you see 
or hear further from me, you may show him this. 
Perhaps he will understand it better than you 
or father. 


Pierre. 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 101 

“ Where is Pierre ? ” I inquired mildly, en- 
deavoring to suppress the look of surprise which 
I felt my face must show, “ up-stairs with your 
father and the officers ? ” 

As I collected myself the idea had struck me 
that this was a joke of Pierre’s which he had 
already explained to his father and sister, and 
of which he was now giving Sloane the par- 
ticulars. 

“ Oh, Fred, how I wish he were,” she replied, 
quiveringly. “ Neither papa nor I know any 
more where he is than do you, only that we 
know that he has gone away somewhere.” Here 
she could no longer restrain herself, and her 
voice was broken with sobs, while her eyes filled 
with tears, as she looked up into my face ap- 
pealingly and added : “ But perhaps you can 
tell us something of him. Is it not possible 
that you may have met him somewhere, or that 
he may have sent you some word which will ex- 
plain his very strange actions ? ” 

I was not yet in any state of mind to try to 
quiet or reassure her, as my own excitement 
had grown as she proceeded, until, as she closed 
by appealing to me for comfort, I was just be- 
ginning to feel the full force of the shock to my 
nerves which her words had produced. Hesi- 
tating for some time in order to recover myself 


102 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


finally, without answering her questions, I in- 
quired : 

“ Where and when did you get this mes- 
sage ? ” 

With an effort she calmed herself sufficiently 
to reply. 

" It is quite a long story, Fred. Let ’s sit 
down ; I have been in such a turmoil of excite- 
ment and anxiety throughout the day that I 
begin to think from my feelings that, like other 
people, I must have nerves, a fact which has 
never been made so apparent to me before. 
But, excuse me, I think I hear your friend 
Sloane coming down-stairs. I will send him in 
here and wait elsewhere for his departure before 
continuing my story.” 

As she rose to go, brushing the moisture 
from her eyes with her handkerchief, I asked 
her if Sloane knew anything of Pierre’s message, 
to which she replied : 

“ Nothing whatever, nor of anything associ- 
ated with it. Papa and I concluded to keep 
him in ignorance of it. But he is here. Make 
your interview with him as short as possible. 
I am so impatient that I can hardly wait for 
him to go.” 

Sloane stepped quickly in, and, walking up to 
me, grasped my hand warmly. He declined a 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


103 


seat, saying that he had no occasion to tarry, 
only stopped as he heard I wished to see him. 
He had nothing new to report except that he 
had been paid off and dismissed, at which he 
appeared to show no surprise, but rather seemed 
pleased. 

“ It is not my business you know, sir, to 
question the motives of people who employ me. 
The least said about that the better. You 
know what I predicted this afternoon as the 
result of my investigation of this robbery. A 
part of that prediction was that the girl, find- 
ing the pursuit getting too warm for her, would 
surrender the diamonds, and that my services 
would be no longer required. The latter part 
of my prophecy having been fulfilled, you can 
judge as well as I as to the correctness of the 
balance of it. At any rate I have nothing more 
to do with the case except to return to head- 
quarters and have that fellow Richard dis- 
charged, as there is no one to appear against 
him. I congratulate you upon the recovery of 
your diamonds, which, for all I know you may 
already have received ; if not you probably will 
as soon as I am out of the way.” 

I tried hard to smile, as I answered: 

“ I have not yet seen them, but hope as you 
say that I soon may. I thank you heartily, 


10 1 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


Sloane, for your industry in this case, and shall 
remember you in any future business which I 
may have in your line.’ , 

“ Thank you, sir, and good-night.” 

Kate came in immediately, and seemed quite 
herself again as she seated herself beside me 
upon a lounge at the back of the room, and at 
once began her story, which, as nearly as pos- 
sible, I give in her own words, omitting any of 
the interruptions to which I subjected her at the 
time, in the way of comments and questions 
suggested by the various incidents of the 
recital. 


J FLUE MT IN DIAMONDS, 


105 


CHAPTER XI. 

“Just before you left here this afternoon 
you will remember that, at the officer’s request, 
I went up and opened the safe, to satisfy him 
that the person who stole the diamonds had not 
secreted them there and then locked them in, 
so that neither he nor she nor anybody, except- 
ing myself, could ever get them again. It struck 
me as so ridiculous that I could not restrain 
the remark I made upon going up of ‘ how funny 
it would be if I should find them there/ Of 
course, I did not find them and so reported. 

“ When I pulled the safe-door open some- 
thing fell out upon the floor, but I paid no at- 
tention to it until afterward ; as I locked the safe 
I saw an old photograph of myself lying there, 
face up. Knowing then that it had fallen from 
the safe, and wondering for a moment how it 
could have gotten in there, as I could not re- 
member placing it there, nor think of any 
motive for my so doing (as it is a horrid like- 
ness and scarcely worth preserving) I just 
slipped it into my pocket and soon forgot all 
about it 


106 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


“ Shortly after lunch I was sitting in my room 
up-stairs, thinking over the unusual event, of the 
day, when Winnie come to the door and asked 
me if she might come in, as she wished to talk 
with me. Of course I assented, and, as she 
came in, looking so pale and miserable, my 
heart went out to her, and seizing her hand I 
drew her toward the sofa upon which I was 
sitting, and after she was seated, asked her 
what I could do for her.” 

“ ‘Nothing at all, Miss, I am afraid, ’she said, 
1 but I thought that before I was taken away 
from here it was my duty to see you and tell 
you what is on my mind, connected with those 
diamonds which have been the cause of so 
much trouble.’ 

“ 4 If you mean by what you say, Winnie, 
that they will take you away from here on ac- 
count of your having had anything to do with 
the loss of the jewels, let me assure you that 
there is no danger of that, at present at least, 
as I will interfere to prevent any such injustice., 
I replied. 

“ 4 I thank you, Miss, for your very kind in- 
tentions toward me, but you will be powerless, 
I think, to save me this disgrace. When I tell 
you what I know of the doings of that officer 
who was here, you will agree with me.’ 

44 ‘I cannot believe that it is as bad as you im- 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS . 107 

agine, Winnie, but go on with what you have 
to say and let’s hear the worst of it.’ I said, 
trying to cheer her. 

“ ‘ Miss Lindley, you know I do not have 
much love for my brother. I believe him 
capable of doing almost anything, except honest 
labor, which would put money in his pocket, 
provided he can do it without much risk of the 
law. He is none too good to steal, but he is 
naturally a coward and would see that there 
was little chance of his being suspected before 
he would steal from any person who might 
cause his arrest and punishment. 

“ ‘ The presence of the diamonds here may 
have been a great temptation to him, and cir- 
cumstances which I will mention later on made 
it appear quite easy for him to obtain them, but, 
Miss, I can assure you that he is innocent of 
this crime, that, although the officer has seen 
evidences which point to him as the thief, I 
can swear, if necessary, of my own knowledge 
that he has never even seen the diamonds.’ 

“ Winnie was terribly in earnest by this time 
and I could plainly see was telling me the 
truth. 

“‘You must know, Miss, how the officer’s 
visit here has resulted. That he suspects the 
robbery to have been done by me and Richard 


108 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


together, and that Richard carried the dia- 
monds off. You may not know that Richard 
has been arrested and my mother’s house 
searched for the jewels. Why they have not 
come to arrest me I cannot say, but I am 
waiting in fear and trembling for their sum- 
mons. Oh, Miss, I cannot bear this disgrace 
and have come to you in my grief, as I believe 
you to be truly my friend, and, though I have 
no faith that you can save me, I have hopes of 
convincing you of my innocence.’ 

“ ‘ It will require no effort for you to do that, 
Winnie, as I have never for a moment doubted 
you,’ I responded, as I pressed her hand. 
4 But what causes you to think that you are 
suspected by the officer? I have heard very 
few of the particulars of his investigation after 
I left the room. Tell me what you know of 
them.’ 

“ ‘ Enough to convince me that, from the 
first, he suspected me. Although he treated 
me very politely the very nature of his ques- 
tions showed me that I was right in my fears.’ 

“ 4 What grounds had he for these suspi- 
cions ? ” I asked. 

“ ‘ Strong ones, I must admit, Miss, and it 
was my knowledge of this that made me dread 
meeting him. Last night when I went over 


A FLUB11Y IN DIAMONDS. 


109 


home I somehow dropped the key of the gate 
out of my pocket and did not discover the loss 
until I arrived back here. As it was pretty 
late I concluded not to go back for it then, but 
went around to the stable and got Dan to let 
me through that way. When Dan was ques- 
tioned by the officer he told of this as I sus- 
pected he might. The officer soon obtained 
all the particulars of my doings from me, how 
I told mother of the beautiful diamonds, which 
you remember you showed me, and told her in 
Richard’s presence, though I really believed 
him to be sleeping at the time, and of my losing 
the gate key and coming in by the stable. I 
then told him of Richard’s finding the key and 
bringing it here this morning, which accounted 
for its being in its usual place. I told him of 
Richard quarreling with me, and of my hurry- 
ing him out of the back door under threat of 
calling your father. This I did without being 
questioned, as I suspected that Dan might 
have heard us wrangling or have seen Richard 
leaving the house. In that case I was pretty 
positive that the detective knew all about it, 
for Dan, though always very kind to me, has 
no liking for Richard. He has several times 
driven him out of the stable, as I learned from 
Richard himself. So you can see that circum- 


no 


A FL XT Till Y IN DIAMONDS. 


stances warrant the officer in his suspicions, 
although I did my best to help my case and 
save Richard too, for knew him to I be innocent. 
I think your father and Mr. Hopkins believed 
something of my statements, but I could plainly 
see that I had not convinced the detective. 
Shortly after he left the house I ran around to 
mother’s to see Richard and inform him of 
my suspicions, and also to caution him to tell 
the truth when called upon. I found him at 
home and frightened him considerably with my 
story. I told him to remain there and await 
developments, which he promised to do. As I 
was coming away I saw two persons whom I 
suspected to be officers near the house and 
turning as I walked along, saw them enter. I 
have heard nothing further, but am sure that 
they have arrested him and searched the house 
as I told you. Of course, finding nothing of 
the jewelry there, they will soon be here after 
me,’ and the poor girl as she concluded, looked 
the very picture of despair. 

“ ‘ Let them come,’ I said bravely. “ And 
they will not take you. Father has something 
to say about that I imagine, and I will see that 
he allows no such outrage. Take heart, 
Winnie, and believe me when I say that no 
further mortification nor disgrace shall come 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. Ill 

to you. I almost wish I had never seen the 
diamonds, for thus far they have produced 
nothing but trouble for us all/ 

“ But Winnie would not be comforted, seemed 
nervous and uneasy and I thought rather 
strangely of it, because I considered that after 
my assurances she really had nothing to fear 
Finally, without looking at me, she said in a low. 
voice, ‘ Miss Lindley, there is something con- 
nected with those diamonds which you do not 
know and of which I had fully determined not 
to tell you. But, as I cannot see my way out 
of this trouble by any other course, I have final- 
ly decided to do so. Besides, it may be best 
that you should know it/ 

“ ‘ What can it possibly be, Winnie, that you 
should allow it to worry you so ? ’ I asked, some- 
what excited and moved by her strange words 
and actions. ‘ Something that, though it will 
clear both my brother and myself of all suspi- 
cion, at the same time will, I fear, be cause for 
grief to you and your father/ 

“ ‘ I cannot imagine of course to what you 
may refer, but want you to tell me at once, 
whatever it may be/ 

“ ‘ I will, Miss/ she replied, ‘ but it is an un- 
pleasant task for me. When your father caught 
me this morning foolishly admiring the effect 


112 


A FLunnr in diamonds. 


of the ear-rings and, after giving me a terribly 
reproving glance, gathered them up and went 
through your boudoir into his rooms, I, feeling 
terribly mortified, immediately left your room 
here and rushed up the stairs on the way to my 
own room. In going up I met your brother, 
Mr. Pierre, upon the stairs, and, excited as I was, 
had nearly run against him before I saw him. 
I remained but a moment in my room, return- 
ing down-stairs to attend to my usual morning 
work which had been interrupted by my un- 
pleasant experience between your father and the 
diamonds. As I entered that door leading into 
these rooms I happened to glance into the 
mirror over your dressing-table there, and saw 
reflected therein your brother standing in front 
of your father’s bureau and trying to open one 
of the drawers. As his actions seemed peculiar, 
I remained where I was, and, as I was out of 
his sight, could watch him without fear of dis- 
covery. When he found that the drawer was 
locked and the key removed, he took a small 
bunch of keys from his pocket, and, after trying 
a number of them, found one which answered 
his purpose, and he soon had the drawer open. 
Taking from it a paper box which I recognized 
as the one containing the diamonds, after re- 
moving the lid and looking into it he placed it 


A FLUBBY JN DIAMONDS. 


113 


in his breast pocket. Before closing the drawer 
he searched further for something which he 
seemed to want and presently drew out a large 
card, upon which he rapidly wrote something 
with a pencil, and passed out with the card in 
his hand. In a few moments I heard him close 
and lock the door of the safe in the passage, 
after which he immediately went down-stairs. 
I was so confused and excited over what I had 
witnessed that instead of going about my work 
I again went up to my room to calm myself, 
but had small chance of doing so before Richard 
came stealing in, and I had the unpleasant 
scene with him, which ended in my getting him 
out of the house just as you and your father 
came up from breakfast. A few minutes after 
this I met you in the hall, when you told me of 
the robbery, and also told me to remain, leaving 
everything up-stairs untouched until after the 
investigation.’ 

“ As Winnie mentioned the card and the 
closing of the safe, the incident of my picking 
up the photograph flashed across my mind. 
As she finished her story I quickly drew it from 
my pocket and saw that the back of it was 
nearly covered with pencil writing, and you 
may imagine my feelings when I read what you 
know to be Pierre’s message to me. Hastily 
8 


114 A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 

showing it to Winnie, I asked her if that looked 
like the card she saw in Pierre’s hand, to which 
she replied that it seemed to be of the same 
size, which was the only way in which she could 
judge of it. She had not noticed that it was a 
photograph, but at the distance which she stood 
from him, and that distance apparently doubled 
by the reflection in the glass, she could hardly 
have distinguished it, if it were such. 

“ I then explained to her something of the 
message, told her that what she had witnessed 
and the confirmatory tone of the message, en- 
tirely cleared away any evidence of danger to 
her or her brother, and dismissed her as cheer- 
fully as I could, under the circumstances of this 
new shock. As soon as she had gone out I 
rang for Jerry and told him to send papa to me 
immediately. 

“ ‘ Mr. Lindley has gone down town, Miss, 
and said he would not be back before a couple 
of hours.’ 

“ As there was nothing else to do, I passed 
the time in brooding over this new turn to the 
mystery, and had managed to get myself worked 
up into a pretty state of excitement before 
papa’s return. When he came in I went di- 
rectly to him and, trying to control my own 
feelings, handed him the card and carefully 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS . 


115 


watched him to see what effect it would have 
upon him. His face, which looked troubled 
enough when he commenced reading, showed 
signs of increased emotion as he proceeded, and, 
as he finished, he looked up and said in a falter- 
ing sort of way : 

“ ‘Well, Kate, this only confirms what I have 
feared, from something I have learned since I 
left here after luncheon ; but you have not 
told me where you found this card.’ 

“ In as few words as possible I then related 
what had transpired, how I found the card and 
carelessly put it away, and how Winnie’s state- 
ment had been the means of establishing the 
importance of it. Seeing that he looked much 
troubled, I endeavored to rally him by suggest- 
ing that the whole thing was a joke of Pierre’s 
which would be explained when he came home. 

“ ‘Yes, my dear, when he comes home, but 
when will that be, do you suppose?’ he replied 
sadly. 

“ ‘ Why,’ I said, cheerfully, ‘ pretty soon now. 
He never fails to come home before dinner, 
you know, when he is in town, without sending 
us word of his detention ! ’ 

“ ‘ I know, Kate, but I have information which 
causes me to believe that we shall not have him 
to dine with us this evening nor for many fol- 
lowing ones, I fear.’ 


116 


FLUBRY IN DIAMONDS. 


Seeing that he was endeavoring to keep 
something back which was agitating him be- 
yond control, and growing alarmed, I said 
nervously : 

“ ‘ Oh, what has happened to Pierre ? tell me, k 
papa, at once. I know it must be something ■ 
dreadful, but please let me know it. Is he — ? ” 

‘“No, my darling. I know what you would 
ask. He is not dead, nor,’ — seeing my look of 
anxious inquiry which he correctly interpreted, 

‘ that I know of, is he in any danger. He is, so 
far as I am aware, in his usual good health, but, 
Kate, if I could have had any choice in the 
matter, I should have preferred to know that 
he had died in innocence to having these proofs 
of his crimes accumulate before me as they have 
to-day ! ’ And poor papa dropped his head, com- 
pletely giving way to his grief in sobs, while 
great tears rolled down his cheeks. Though 
quite unnerved myself, my sympathy for his 
sufferings gave me renewed strength, and, try- 
ing to appear cheerful, throwing my arms 
around his neck and looking deep into his eyes, 

I said: 

‘ ‘ Papa it cannot be as bad as you seem to 
fear ; bear up and tell me what you have heard 
or seen. You know you always rely upon little 
Kate, as you still persist in calling me, to help 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


117 


you over difficulties. Come, out with it, and I 
will warrant you that it will relieve you. ’ 

“ So, pressed by me, he finally consented, 
and I soon learned the cause of his trouble. 
As he is waiting to advise with you about it, I 
will not repeat what he told me, but must con- 
fess, Fred, that after he had finished, I found 
slight grounds of comfort for either him, or my- 
self. You would better go up and see him and 
if you desire to talk with me further you will 
find me here on your return.” 

I judged by Kate’s words that she desired an 
interview with me after I had heard her father’s 
statement, and so replied: 

“ All right, Kate, I shall want to see you 
again,” and, putting out my hand which she 
grasped quite tenderly, I left her. 


118 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


CHAPTER XII. 

On reaching Mr. Lindley’s rooms I found 
him sitting in a great easy chair, his head rest- 
ing upon his hand in a meditative sort of way. 
As I came in he arose and greeted me in his 
usual courtly manner, though a close inspection 
of his features showed me that Kate had not 
exaggerated the effect which his troubles had 
produced upon him. His face wore a stern ex- 
pression unusual to him, the corners of his 
mouth were drawn down, and his eyes had 
lost some of their brightness. As he spoke I 
could detect a slight tremor in his voice, 
although he pitched it in a very low key. It 
was plain to see that it was no ordinary excite- 
ment which had so affected a man of his power- 
ful physique and iron nerve. 

Motioning me to a seat facing his, he began 
speaking as soon as he had resumed his chair, 
at first trying to assume an easy manner, but 
soon succumbing to his feelings he grew consid- 
erably excited as he progressed. 

“ I have sent for you, Fred, as the nearest 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


119 


friend of Pierre and also because you are a 
favorite of my own among his acquaintances. 
There are no other persons whom I can recall, 
outside of my family here, to whom I should 
wish at present to confide what I feel it my 
duty to tell to you. Although I think there 
can be no explanations given which will change 
my view of the circumstances which I am about 
to relate, your close intimacy with my son for 
so long a time may perhaps aid you in discov- 
ering motives for his actions of which I am ig- 
norant. It is hard, Fred, for me to have to ac- 
knowledge at my time of life that the hopes 
and promises in the early life of a favored son 
have not been fulfilled. That, instead of being 
allowed to remain in assurance that this son 
would continue to justify my faith in him, I 
must conclude so suddenly that he has betrayed 
my trust in him. That, instead of living in 
hope of his future high standing in his profes- 
sion and among his fellow men, I must come 
down to the acknowldgment of the hard fact 
that he is a defaulter, a common thief, and that 
the victim of his crimes is his father. I see 
that you would have me modify the terms, but 
what is the use ? Soft names for such acts will 
not lessen their enormity and, as I am a practi- 
cal man, Fred, and used to plain speaking, I 


120 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


may as well put it to you just as I see it. As 
I have sat here alone this evening, pondering 
over the developments of the day, and compar- 
ing my early struggles and hard knocks and 
dependence upon my own efforts for whatever 
success I should attain with the very opposite 
of this, as exemplified in the life of my son, I 
have been more than ever convinced of my 
mistake, in being induced to give him a profes- 
sional education, in place of compelling him to 
make his way in the world, upon his merits, in 
some practical business. As you know, Fred, 
I have been most indulgent with him in money 
matters since he was a boy. I have always had 
the fullest confidence in him, seldom question- 
ing him as to his expenditures, satisfied that he 
had no bad habits or questionable companions. 
I have put myself upon an equality with him 
and tried to encourage in him a feeling of in- 
dependence ; told him that my purse was for 
the mutual benefit of myself and children, to be 
used liberally in proper ways, but with an eye 
to the fact that, as my fortune was not that of 
a Vanderbilt, there was a necessity of our keep- 
ing within bounds. 

“ Never but once have I had to express disap- 
proval of any action of his, in a financial way. 
From what I have learned down town to-day, I 


A FL UBB Y IN DIAMONDS . 121 

think that such disapproval, which he has 
wrongly construed as a refusal on my part to 
assist him, has led him to take the fatal steps, 
which, besides making a felon of him, have 
caused him to fly from home and from friends 
whose confidence he has so shamefully betrayed. 
I see you start again, Fred, as though you 
think me too harsh, but when you hear all, you 
will be astonished as I am crushed at the evi- 
dence which compels me to believe my son a 
thief. 

“ Last evening Pierre came to me in a con- 
used sort of way and said that he feared he 
should need my assistance in a few days to the 
amount of some five thousand dollars. As I 
could not imagine what use he could so sud- 
denly have for so round a sum, and noting his 
worried manner, I expressed considerable sur- 
prise at his request, and asked him what occa- 
sioned the demand. He then told me that 
some three months ago he had indorsed a note 
or that amount to oblige a friend of his, young, 
Clark, Walter Clark, I believe is his name. It 
seems Clark needed the money in his business 
and pending the settlement of a sale of some 
property in the interior of the State, induced 
Pierre to lend him his name, assuring him that 
it was a mere form, that he would have the 


122 A FLUBRT IN DIAMONDS. 

money for the land long before the note came 
due, and that Pierre would never hear anything 
further from it. It seems there is a hitch in 
the transfer, that Clark has not received the 
money and that the chances are strong of Pierre 
being held for the amount of the note. 

“ I felt annoyed at Pierre and plainly told him 
so, and that I did not see that it was my duty 
to pay the debts of his friends. I further said 
that, as he was worth nothing in his own name, 
of course he had nothing to lose in this case, 
but cautioned him of the danger of following 
up a custom of indorsing for his friends. I did 
not flatly refuse his application, but I think he 
got the impression that I would when the time 
came. That was the view I wished him to take 
of it, so that Clark might stir himself and raise 
the money. If he failed to do this, and the 
note should be protested, I intended to see 
Pierre out of it, without his being troubled. 
I thought it a good time for both of the boys 
to take a lesson which might benefit them here- 
after. Besides, Clark is good for the debt and 
I should lose nothing in the end. Before re- 
tiring, I asked Pierre if a certain company had 
paid him any money on my account within a 
day or two, to which he replied in the negative. 
I thought rather strangely of that, as this money > 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 123 

some $10,000 is a quarterly instalment of royalty 
on my most important patent under which these 
people are the only manufacturers, and they are 
usually very prompt in payment. The money was 
due on the first of May and, as it was the third of 
the month, I had looked for Pierre to bring it 
up for the past two days. The payments are 
made at his office, where all the papers pertain- 
ing to my business of that nature are kept. 
Pierre and his partner, Mr. Blakely, continue to 
act as my attorneys, in which capacity I have 
always employed the latter, an old friend of 
mine, as you know, since I first had occasion 
for legal advice in my transactions. When I 
was down town this afternoon I dropped in at 
the city office of the company using my patent, 
and, after a general discussion of business 
affairs with the managers, I said to them that, 
if convenient, I wished they would let me have 
the quarterly payment which was due, as I knew 
of a profitable investment in which to place it. 
The treasurer at once apologized for the delay, 
by saying that he had been called away from 
town for a day or two, but, that upon his return 
this morning, had himself taken a statement 
of the quarter’s business and the money which 
it called for around to Pierre’s office. He 
showed me Pierre’s receipt for the payment 


124 A FLURRY IJST DIAMONDS. 

which amounted to something over eleven thou- 
sand dollars, a very good quarters business for 
all concerned. Of course this was a satisfac- 
tory explanation to me, and I left feeling in 
very good humor. After attending to some 
other little matters, I arrived at Pierre’s office 
at about four o’clock and found Mr. Blakely 
there. After passing the usual compliments of 
the day, I inquired for Pierre. 

“ 4 There,’ replied Blakely, ‘ I am glad you 
came in, as I fear I might otherwise have for- 
gotten the message which he left for me to send 
up to you. Pierre has been suddenly called 
away on some private business, and expects to 
be gone for some days. He told me this in a 
hurried manner, as he was preparing to leave, 
when I returned from luncheon, and requested 
me to send you word, as he had no time to do 
so, having to leave at once to catch the train. 
He did not say which way he was going, nor 
did I think to ask.’ 

“ I thought it nothing remarkable, as you 
know it is not unusual for him to go away on 
business connected with the firm, still I could 
not conceive of any private business which he 
could have requiring his absence for so indefi- 
nite a time. I told Blakely I was glad I had 
called for besides relieving him of the necessity 


A FLUBBY I ! V DIAMONDS. 125 

of sending me a message, I could also relieve 
him of the responsibility of longer holding the 
money which had been paid in this morning on 
my account. He looked up surprised and 
seemed in ignorance of what I was driving at. 

“ ‘ What money do you refer to, Lindley ? ’ 
he said, ‘ I have no recollection of any being 
paid in for you for some time/ 

“ I then told him what I had learned before 
coming there. 

“ 4 Well,’ he replied, 4 If you saw Pierre’s 
receipt he must have received the money, I sup- 
pose, but I am positive it has not been paid in 
while I have been in the office. It probably 
came in while I was at lunch, and, in his haste 
to get away, Pierre forgot to mention it to me. 
If so, it should be in the safe/ And he got up 
and searched for it, but without success. 

“ 1 Strange,’ he said, 4 Pierre must have 
carelessly stuffed it in his pocket and forgotten 
it. Those people always pay in greenbacks, 
and, although usually in notes of large denomi- 
nations, still it makes a bulky package to carry.’ 
And Blakely was right. It is their custom to 
pay in money instead of by check, a peculiarity 
with them which I never understood. As they 
are a solid concern, their checks are as good as 
gold, but, as they for some reason of their own 


126 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


seem to prefer making these payments in 
money, I have never questioned them as to 
their motive in so doing. I was considerably 
provoked as well as surprised over Pierre’s ap- 
parent thoughtlessness, as he is usually most 
business-like in all such matters. But, as there 
was nothing to do but to await his return for 
an explanation, I left the office and came im- 
mediately home. 

“ While riding up the street I got thinking the 
matter over and then for the first began to see 
that Pierre’s actions denoted something more 
than mere carelessness in regard to the money. 
It was hard for me to bring myself to believe 
this, Fred, but the more I pondered over it, and 
turned it in my mind, the more firmly I became 
convinced that my suspicions were correct. I 
tried in every way to put a better face upon it, 
then to convince myself that it was cruel in me 
to doubt the high sense of honor which had 
always manifested itself in my son, and wicked 
for me to admit the thought that he could, un- 
der any circumstances, be induced to betray the 
confidence in which I held him. But there 
were the strange facts of his sudden departure, 
without imparting any cause therefor, either 
to his partner or myself ; the mysterious disap- 
pearance of the money, which he had no reason 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 127 

to suppose I knew him to have received, and, 
finally, I recalled our conversation over his in- 
dorsement of young Clark’s note, and, in some 
way, connected that with his actions. By the 
time I arrived here I was pretty well mixed up 
in a state of doubt and fear, but when Kate 
showed me the card containing Pierre’s mes- 
sage to her, which I suppose you have seen, and 
told me the particulars of her finding it and, 
what Winnie had witnessed, how could I doubt 
longer that Pierre was a thief ? ” 

As he finished he drew a deep sigh, and 
showed in his downcast eyes and quivering lips 
the effect which his belief in the guilt of his 
son had produced upon him. I pitied him 
from my heart, and, though I was almost 
crushed myself by his rehearsal, I still tried to 
rally him by assurances that it could not be so 
bad as he had pictured it ; that, though I could 
not yet see entirely through all Pierre’s actions, 
I was hopeful that we should have an explana- 
tion from him which would make everything 
clear without loss of honor on his part. But, 
as I really had nothing substantial to offer him 
to justify me in these views, I did not succeed 
in altering his conclusions. Seeing the hope- 
lessness of further argument with him on the 
subject, I turned the conversation in other 
channels. 


128 A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 

Asking" hirnT about the dismissal of "'Sloane, 
he told me that he had no trouble in that 
direction, as the officer apparently expected 
such action on his part “ He has no suspicion, 
I think, of the new turn of affairs, but imagines 
that Winnie has made some sort of a confes- 
sion and restored the diamonds ; that Kate has 
interceded for her and her brother, and in- 
duced me to decline prosecuting them. This 
I gathered from his conversation, in hints 
thrown out by him. I did not dispute the cor- 
rectness of his conclusions, rather encouraging 
him to believe that he had guessed the truth, 
paid him a good round fee for his services and 
instructed him to discharge Richard, as I should 
not appear against him. He left seemingly 
satisfied with his pay, and confident that he 
had accomplished a clever piece of detective 
work. 

“ Perhaps I did wrong in not telling him of 
my discoveries and retaining his services in the 
pursuit of my son, but, Fred, I have not yet de- 
termined whether such pursuit is advisable, and, 
therefore, thought it best not to acquaint him 
with this new phase of the case.” 

“You did right, sir,” I replied, “for, although 
Sloane and his chief will still think Winnie and 
her brother guilty, no harm can come to them, 


A1FLUREY. IN DIAMONDS. 


129 


and at the proper time we can explain matters 
to the officials. This matter must right itself 
in some way before long.” 

“ It is kind of you to say so, Fred, and 
I know that you feel the force of what 
you say,” he said, rising and grasping my 
hand, “ but for me, can only see in die affair 
the damning disgrace into which Pierre, in his 
rashness, has led not only himself but also his 
family. With regard to the diamonds, Fred, I 
will see that you are paid for them as soon as 
I can settle myself to attend to business.” 

“ Do n’t mention that now, Mr. Lindley.” I 
said, “ that is an after consideration, and does 
not now interest me in the least. Neither 
father nor any of our people at the store know 
anything of the loss, and, as father will not be 
in town for about ten days, I shall keep the 
matter to myself until his return. In the mean- 
time some satisfactory ending to the mystery may 
be arrived at, obviating any necessity for me to 
let him into the secret at all. So please do not 
let that part of the affair disturb you.” 

Remembering my promise to see Kate before 
I left, and as it was getting late, I expressed a 
hope that, after sleeping on the matter, he would 
take a brighter view of the situation and, bid- 
ding him good-night, withdrew. 


130 


A FLUBBY IN DIAMONDS . 


“ Well, Kate,” I began, as soon as I rejoined 
her, “ I have heard your father’s statement and, 
while I must acknowledge that he has some 
grounds for his suspicions against Pierre, I do 
not see the justice or propriety of his condemn- 
ing him so strongly without further evidence 
than he now has. I can see that, to a man of 
your father’s fine feelings of honor, the least 
deviation from a strict course of rectitude, on 
the part of an only son, must be most humili- 
ating, and he has my sympathy in his sorrow. 
But, I cannot yet bring myself to believe that 
Pierre has done anything either criminal or dis- 
honorable.” 

“ Oh, Fred,” she replied warmly “ it does my 
soul good to hear you say that. I knew that 
you would not condemn Pierre without the 
strongest proofs of his dishonesty, that you 
would not allow yourself to be prejudiced against 
your own convictions of his strength of char- 
acter, even by papa whose confidence in him 
seems so sadly shaken. For myself, I must 
admit that papa’s terrible earnestness in his be- 
lief had partly converted me to his views, but 
your words have reassured me and, though I 
can give no reason for the feeling, I have a con- 
sciousness that we have wronged Pierre by our 
suspicions. I do not expect that you can offer 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


131 


any explanation for his strange actions, as, in 
the whirl of excitement through which we are 
passing, calm thinking would be out of the 
question for you, as well as myself.” 

“ That ’s just it, Kate,” I said. “When we get 
our wits again perhaps some solution of this 
mystery will suggest itself which now, in our 
unsettled state of mind, is out of the question.” 

“ I forgot to mention, Fred,” said Kate, in 
quite a cheerful tone, “ that I received a letter 
from Grace Hartwell this afternoon, in which 
she writes that she is coming to the city with 
her uncle, in a few days. Mr. Hartwell is called 
here upon business which will occupy his time 
for several days, and Grace will make her head- 
quarters here. I am to expect her on Saturday 
morning.” 

I was glad on Kate’s account to hear this 
pleasant news. 

This Miss Hartwell was a charming girl 
whom the Lindleys had met some years 
previously on one of their summer jaunts, and 
in whose company and that of the family of the 
uncle mentioned they had traveled together, 
here and there, for a couple of months. The 
young ladies had formed a strong attachment 
for each other, and were in the habit of exchang- 
ing visits at each other’s homes. Miss Hart- 


132 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


well was an only child and an orphan, worth 
half a million in her own right. She was the 
ward of her father’s younger brother, a widower 
with two or three growing children, and resided 
in Boston at the home of this uncle. I had met 
her frequently when she was the guest of the . 
Lindleys, and had assisted them in entertaining 
her, by relieving Pierre, in escorting his sister 
while he paid his devoirs to Miss Grace, upon 
numerous rides and drives, in visits to the 
opera and art galleries, and in attendance at an 
occasional little reception. I had for some time 
thought that there were signs of a feeling con- 
siderably stronger than that of friendship on 
the part of Pierre toward Miss Hartwell, which, 
with a little more encouragement on her side 
than I had yet noticed, I fancied might lead to 
an ultimate betrothal. 

I thought her the handsomest young woman 
I had ever met. Some two years Kate’s senior, 
tall and rather slightly built, though not at all 
‘ thin,’ she was the very personification of ease 
and grace either in motion or at rest. A well- 
shapen head, and a neck neither short nor slender 
perfectly poised upon full sloping shoulders, 
with well developed bust and arms of perfect 
shape, long, tapering waist and an erect, grace- 
ful carriage, gave to her figure the air of a 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


133 


queen. She wore her masses of light golden 
hair loosely arranged, little fluffy locks of 
which seemed to have escaped and floated at 
will over her broad high forehead. Her full 
deep eyes of clearest blue were captivating in 
their brilliancy, and, in conjunction with rather 
full, cherry colored lips, which, try as they might, 
could not conceal the rows of perfect teeth be- 
neath, gave her an expression almost bewitching. 
Add to these charms a pink and white com- 
plexion, a clear and rippling voice, a hearty 
whole-souled manner, without ostentation or af- 
fectation, a strong intellect carefully cultured, 
and you have something of a picture of her, as 
I knew her. That Pierre should have become 
enamored of her seemed to me only a natural 
consequence ; whether he would succeed in 
securing her affections I had my doubts. Not 
that it would not be a desirable alliance on her 
part, for Pierre was a man whom any woman 
might be proud to claim as a husband ; but it 
seemed to me that Miss Grace, not unmindful 
of her charms and her fortune, knew that she 
was something of a prize in the matrimonial 
market, and, although not strictly a flirt, was a 
little given to coquetry. Though seemingly so 
light-hearted and frank in disposition, she was 
a woman of discernment, and, having been 


134 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


brought up to know of the worthless would-be- 
husbands of handsome heiresses floating about 
in society, evidently meant to keep clear of such 
excrescences, in fact of any entanglement of a 
sentimental kind while, as then, she could get 
so much good out of life in her untrammelled 
condition. I could see that she was pleased 
with Pierre’s attentions, and had a high opinion 
of his merits and position, but I did not see that 
she evinced, in the many little ways so often 
apparent to close observers of these things, any 
signs of exceptional interest in him. But 
woman is sometimes hard to read and I might 
be far from right in my views. 

When Kate told me of her contemplated 
visit, I was pleased for several reasons. Al- 
though three days must elapse before she would 
arrive, the anticipation of her coming would 
keep Kate in better spirits and give her some 
thing to think of besides her own and her father’s 
troubles. Then, if there should be no solution 
to Pierre’s strange actions before her arrival, 
Miss Hartwell would be a desirable confidant 
and adviser to Kate in her sorrow. I congrat- 
ulated Kate upon the good news, and spoke of 
the good results which I anticipated from the 
visit. 

“ I have thought of that too, Fred,” she re- 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 135 

plied, “ but I have also thought that Grace will 
have anything like her usual good time in visit- 
ing us just now, but you must help me in mak- 
ing her stay as pleasant as possible.” 

“ Thank you, Kate. A most agreeable task, 

I assure you, but I am afraid I shall not prove 
a satisfactory substitute for Pierre.” 

Kate’s face saddened again at this reference 
to her absent brother. 

“ That may be true, Fred, though I think not 
in the sense you mean to convey. Grace likes 
Pierre as a friend and as my brother Beyond 
that I do not think she regards him differently 
than she does any other of her gentlemen friends, 
yourself included.” 

“ All right, Kate,” I replied, smiling at her 
way of putting it. “ I’ll take your word for it, 
as you ought to know all about it, but I had 
hoped you might have seen indications in that 
direction which I could not be supposed to 
know anything of. But,” looking at my watch, 
“ it is getting pretty late and you must feel the 
need of rest, as, I assure you, I do myself. If 
there is nothing further you may wish to say 
to me, I will go, promising to let you know 
immediately anything which I may learn in 
connection with Pierre. If agreeable to you, I 
will drop in here occasionally to ascertain if 


136 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


you may have heard anything. If you get any- 
thing which you may think it important for me 
to know, send for me at once by telegraph or 
messenger. 5 ' 

Promising to comply with this request, and 
requesting me to step in whenever convenient, 
she extended her hand which I took in mine and 
slightly pressed as I bade her good-night. I 
fancied I detected something of a responsive 
pressure on her part, but, as it might not mean 
anything except an impulsive expression of 
thanks, for my sympathy in her behalf, I did 
not take it much to heart, and, after reaching 
my rooms, was soon soundly sleeping, oblivious 
of that as well as of the other incidents of that 
day which had been so full of exciting events. 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


137 


CHAPTER XIII. 

For the next two or three days nothing of 
importance pertaining to the mystery occurred, 
and, in the meantime, having recovered from 
my excitement over the affair, I had settled 
down to business as usual. 

In my leisure hours I carefully went over all 
the details of the case, striving to discover some 
clue upon which to establish a plausible theory 
which should confirm my belief in Pierre’s in- 
nocence. In his message which he left for 
Kate you will remember that he said, “ If Fred 
calls before you see or hear from me you may 
show him this. Perhaps he will understand it 
better than you or father.” But, as yet, I had 
been unable to comprehend his meaning. 
His reference to my calling I thought applied 
10 my promise to call or send for the diamonds, 
and the following words implied that, if I came 
in person, he desired me to know that they 
were in his possession. But how was I to un- 
derstand his actions any better than his father 
or sister? I turned the question over and 


138 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


over in my mind and could find no satisfactory 
answer to it. The only idea which I could 
get was one that had at first impressed itself 
upon me, but which I was obliged to dismiss at 
once. This was, that taking the jewels from 
their place of concealment as a joke upon his 
father, he had intended to return them to me 
at the store, but, fearing that I might call for 
them before going down in the morning, he 
had left instructions with Kate for her to show 
me the card when I would at once understand 
his intentions. But at the time Kate showed me 
the card, I had ample reasons to know that 
the diamonds had not been so returned. Al- 
though I had been away from the store during 
most of the day, I knew that if Pierre had left 
them there during my absence he would prob- 
ably have left instructions with some person 
to mention the fact to me, on my return. I 
had received no such information, as I certainly 
should have, whether he so instructed the clerks 
or not, in a matter of so much importance to 
the house as the possession of over seven 
thousand dollars’ worth of jewelry. True, I 
had not asked any questions of the clerks bear- 
ing upon the case, as I wished to avoid the 
necessity of explaining matters ; but I knew 
w^ enough that none of them had received the 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


139 


diamonds, nor knew anything of them. To 
further confirm my belief in this respect, I had 
from time to time very carefully, but in an in- 
different manner, gone over our entire stock of 
diamond jewelry, and none of the missing ear- 
rings were there. Neither did they appear 
among the sales recorded since I took them 
them away, nor upon any memorandum of 
goods in the possession of our outside sales- 
men. Looking over father’s desk, I could find 
no record of their having been returned to him, 
during my absence, as I had thought possibly 
they might have been. In fact I made every 
possible search for them, or for some trace of 
them, and was finally, firmly convinced that 
they had never come into the store after I 
took them away. No, I did not understand 
Pierre’s message any better than Kate or her 
father, nor could I see through Pierre’s motive 
in taking them. 

Then there remained the other fact of his 
strange absence without accounting to his 
father for the money known to have been in his 
possession. Altogether I remained as much 
mystified as ever. 

I had called at Mr. Lindley’s several times, 
as promised, but learned nothing new con- 
nected with the affair. The old gentleman 


140 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


was still very bitter against Pierre, and, as he 
had regained his composure after the excite- 
ment of his discoveries, had settled down into 
a condition of morbidly brooding over his “ dis- 
appointments and disgrace.” Kate, in sym- 
pathy for her father’s sufferings, and in her own 
unsettled state produced by Pierre’s continued 
absence, was showing the effects of the strain 
upon her, though she was endeavoring to cheer 
her father with assurances of her perfect confi- 
dence in Pierre, and her belief that before long 
they would be convinced of his entire inno- 
cence. I accepted an invitation to dine with 
them on Saturday evening when I should 
meet Miss Hartwell. There were to be no 
other guests, as, of course, in their present un- 
certain state of mind, the presence of such would 
be embarrassing. I arrived at the house in 
good season and found Miss Hartwell looking 
at her best and in her usual good spirits. 
Kate, seeming to reflect something of her 
friend’s lively nature, was like herself again, and 
I could already see evidences of the good effect 
which Grace’s visit was having upon her. I 
was very warmly greeted by both of them, and 
no allusion was made to Pierre or his absence 
by any of us, either before going out to dinner 
or while at table. 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


141 


The dinner itself was a fair example of Kate’s 
good taste in the selection of the viands, and in 
the furnishing and arrangement of the table, and 
of the skill of her veteran cook in the prepara- 
tion of the savory dishes. It passed off pleas- 
antly enough, although it was plain to me that, 
upon the others as well as myself, Pierre’s 
absence had a depressing effect. We needed 
him in his place at the board to complete our 
little party. We missed his witty and enter- 
taining talk, his lively rehearsals of the doings 
and sayings of the day, and the amusing little 
passages at arms between him and Miss Hart- 
well, which were wont to keep us all in such 
good humor. Miss Hartwell tried to make the 
best of the situation, however, and, taking my 
cue from her, together we succeeded in restoring 
even Mr. Lindley to himself again for the 
time. 

After dinner I was alone in the drawing-room 
for a short time with Miss Hartwell, Kate hav- 
ing left us to give some instructions about the 
house, and Mr. Lindley not having rejoined us 
yet. As soon as Kate had gone out, Miss 
Hartwell came over where I was sitting, and 
taking a seat near me, said, in a rather low 
voice : 

“ Mr. Hopkins, I have been longing for hours 
for this chance to talk with you.” 


142 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


Knowing well enough what was coming, I 
said nothing in reply, merely bowing my assent. 

“ I cannot believe/’ she continued, very ear- 
nestly, “ that, like Mr. Lind ley, you have lost 
your senses over this affair of Pierre’s, or, that 
like dear Kate you are in such a confusion of 
doubts and hopes that you have failed to em- 
ploy your reason to assist you in clearing up 
the mystery, as they term it. I have a high 
opinion of your practical good sense, and can- 
not yet believe but that you must see that any 
suspicion against Pierre’s honesty is entirely 
groundless.” 

“ I thank you, Miss Hartwell, more for your 
compliments to my good sense, as you call it, 
than for your evident confidence in my ability 
to account for Pierre’s peculiar actions. I may 
as well acknowledge to you, at once, that I 
am as much in the dark in this respect, as 
either Mr. Lindley or his daughter.” 

“ Do you mean to tell me, sir, that, in your 
long intimacy with Pierre, you have not learned 
him well enough to be able to account for his 
motives in anything he might do, or, at least, 
to know that there must be reasons for any act 
of his which should preclude any thought of 
dishonor in the smallest degree, as applied to 
him ? ” 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


143 


By Jove ! I thought, as I saw the effect of the 
deep feelings which were stirring her, her flash- 
ing eyes and heaving bosom, and noted the ris- 
ing tone of her voice as she proceeded. Here 
is a champion for a man to have, and here also 
is an indication of a deeper interest in her 
brother than Kate has acknowledged or per- 
haps foreseen her friend to possess. 

“ Your firm confidence in Pierre’s integrity 
does you credit, Miss Hartwell, and to no one 
could it be more gratifying than to me, his 
closest friend.” I replied. “ But, while I can 
assure you of my unbroken faith in him, I must 
plead guilty to an utter ignorance of his motives 
in absenting himself at this time, and to the 
perplexity in which I find myself when I try to 
account for the circumstances which immedi- 
ately preceded his sudden departure. I presume 
you to be acquainted with all the various inci- 
dents connected with this strange affair. Your 
words not only express your perfect faith in 
Pierre, but also lead me to think that you may 
be able to suggest some explanation of his 
actions which has not occurred to any of us 
here. It is possible that, with your help, we may 
accomplish something in the way of clearing 
up the mystery. I am ready and anxious to do 
anything in my power, and shall be pleased to 


144 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


hear from you any suggestions you may have to 
make.” 

She hesitated a moment before she answered : 

“ My faith in Pierre is strong enough without 
requiring proofs of his honesty. When he re- 
turns, as I am confident he will before long, we 
shall learn from him the reasons for his absence, 
which we shall find to be not at all compromis- 
ing to his honor, and shall also have satisfactor- 
ily explained to us the mysterious disappear- 
ance of your diamonds and Mr. Lindley’s 
money. But, like the rest of you, I am impa- 
tient of delay and disposed to find a way out of 
this perplexing jumble as soon as possible. It 
is my first experience in this line, and I don’t 
know as I can be of any service to you, but, 
when I learn just what you have done in the 
way of investigation, perhaps I may think of 
something which you may have overlooked, and 
which may be worth following up.” 

As I had not done much towards investigat- 
ing matters since the diamonds had been 
traced to Pierre, it did not take long for me to 
acquaint her with my doings. While I was 
speaking Kate came in and listened with inter- 
est to what I said, although she learned nothing 
which I had not previously told her. As I fin- 
ished, Miss Hartwell said, reflectively : 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


145 


“ Then you are sure, Mr. Hopkins, that the 
diamonds are not now, nor have not been at 
your store since you took them away? ” 

“ As sure as I well could be,” I replied, “ I 
have taken every measure to assure myself of 
that fact, jewelry of that kind is carefully 
guarded by us, and a careful record kept of it.” 

“ Yet, I see no other construction to be put 
upon Pierre’s reference to you in his message 
than that he should return them to you, or at 
least to the store,” she said, “ that was your 
reading of it too, I believe ? ” 

“ It certainly was,” I replied, “ though at the 
time I read it I knew well enough that he had 
not so returned them.” 

“ What did Pierre mean by saying that I 
should never see the diamonds again, and by 
his reference to my having had my “ pick ” out 
of them ? ” asked Kate, turning to Miss Hart- 
well. 

“Just nothing but nonsense, my dear,” she 
replied, “ to have a little fun at your expense. 
If Pierre had really started out to make a thief 
of himself he would never have left that message 
for you at all. Don’t you see, Kate, that if you 
had found the card at once, or even had noticed 
the writing upon it when you did find it, you 
would have had time enough to have caught 


146 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


your brother before he left his office ? As he 
had every reason to suppose that you would 
read the message within a short time after he 
left the house, about as foolish a move as he 
could have made, in starting on his new career, 
would have been to leave that card behind him, 
and thfen proceed leisurely about his busi- 
ness for the greater part of the day. Have you 
thought of this yourself, Mr. Hopkins ? ” 

I was obliged to confess that I had not, and 
acknowledged that it was a good point in Pierre’s 
favor, but, as I never had proceeded in the case 
with any idea of his having taken the diamonds, 
except in sport, I had attached no importance 
to the message beyond its reference to myself. 

“ If the police officer had seen the safe 
opened,” she continued, “ it is my opinion that 
the mystery concerning the diamonds would 
have been dispelled very soon. Perhaps your 
father made a mistake, Kate, in dismissing him 
as he did, instead of informing him of Winnie’s 
statement and showing him Pierre’s message. 
What is your opinion of it, Mr. Hopkins, since 
getting more light on Pierre’s actions ? ” 

“ I cannot see that Sloane could have been 
of service to us, considering that he could not 
have learned of the new developments in the 
case until several hours after Pierre’s depart- 


A FLUBRY IN DIAMONDS. 147 

ure,” I replied. “ I think that Mr. Lindley’s 
objection to have even Sloane know of the evi- 
dence against his son was justifiable and highly 
praiseworthy, considering the fact that he be- 
lieved then, and is still confirmed in his belief, 
in Pierre’s guilt.” 

“ Well, I admit that it showed a nice sense of 
honor towards his son for him to decline to em- 
ploy the officer to follow him up, although he 
believed him to have betrayed and robbed him. 
Differing with him very materially in opinion 
as to Pierre’s guilt, I also think that perhaps he 
was mistaken in his supposed charity, and al- 
lowed his feelings to overcome his judgment 
when he dismissed the officer.” 

“ In what way, Grace ? You surely would not 
have had him put the officer on Pierre’s track, 
and thus add another disgrace to this unfortu- 
nate affair ? ” 

And Kate looked horrified at the idea. 

“ I am not so sure, my dear, but that the 
proper thing to have done was to have run 
Pierre down with the police, in a quiet way, and 
thus have reached the bottom of this affair, at 
once.” She replied confidently. 

“ For myself, I should be willing to risk any 
disgrace which would follow such a course. But, 
judging from the poor figure your detective cut 


148 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


in his investigations here, perhaps he could not 
have succeeded in finding Pierre. I don’t know 
anything about such things, but it appears to 
me that, if this Mr. Sloane is justly entitled to 
the reputation which you say he bears as a 
skilled detective, he would feel not a little cha- 
grin if he should learn how differently this 
matter has resulted from what he predicted as 
the probable result of his efforts. If he should 
see, as I think I can, that the whole affair 
turned upon his neglect to have the safe 
opened in his presence, he would probably feel 
that the fee which he received for his services 
was somewhat gratuitous. 

“ At all events, it appears to me that, in justice 
to Winnie, he should know of the change in 
events here, whether he is employed further or 
not. It might not be necessary to tell him any- 
thing about the missing money and Mr. Lind- 
ley’s suspicions concerning that, although, as 
we do not share, those suspicions, we could not 
object to his knowing everything that we do in 
the case. Mr. Lindley may decline taking such 
action, but I have hopes that possibly we might 
talk him over, I do not offer this as advice to 
you, but simply make the suggestion as some- 
thing better at least than the inaction under 
which at present the case lies, and for the past 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


149 


four days has been allowed to rest. You may 
think it worth considering at any rate.” 

There appeared much good sense in her ideas, 
and, for myself, I admitted the force of her re- 
marks. I told her that it had been intended all 
along that, when the affair was satisfactorily 
settled, the police officials should be informed 
of the true facts, in justice to Winnie and her 
brother ; that, while I had no objections to 
again call Sloane into the case, I feared that we 
should meet with strong opposition from Mr- 
Lindley in that direction. Still, we might ex- 
plain matters to him and possibly secure his as- 
sent to the plan. Kate did not interpose any 
further objections, after hearing Miss Hartwell’s 
sensible reasoning against her first opposition. 

“ I will agree to anything which promises to 
cast any light on this present gloom in which 
we are groping,” she said, “ And really, Grace, 
I believe that, from your view of it, possibly the 
police may be of some service to us. I will 
send for papa and, perhaps, when he hears 
your suggestions, he will agree to the proposi- 
tion.” 

Mr. Lindley came in presently in answer to 
her summons, and, after some general conversa- 
tion, Kate opened the subject to him. 

To my surprise, he did not express any strong 


150 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


disapproval of the plan, and, after Miss Hartwell 
had repeated her views, as expressed to us, he 
turned to me saying : 

“ Really, Fred, I don’t see any objections to 
calling again upon your friend, Sloane, except- 
ing that it is hard for me to think of putting 
the hounds upon the track of my own son. It 
must be understood, however, that this pursuit 
is undertaken not to arrest and punish Pierre, 
but to induce him to return the stolen property, 
and to come home again to ask the pardon of 
those whom he has so basely betrayed.” 

“ Oh, papa,” interrupted Kate, “ say rather, 
as we do, that we seek him in perfect confidence 
of his innocence, and of his ignorance of the 
distress which his absence is causing us, that 
he may hasten back to explain whatever we do 
not understand of this mysterious matter, and 
to receive our earnest apologies for ever having 
doubted his perfect honor.” 

“ I wish I could, and with truth, my darling, 
but I cannot yet see any cause for changing 
my opinion, but rather, as the days roll by with- 
out seeing or hearing from him, I am more and 
more convinced of the correctness of my views 
regarding him. It is creditable in you, my 
dear, that, with all the evidence of his guilt be- 
fore you, you can still retain your faith in him, 


A FLUli'BY IN DIAMONDS. 


151 


but I pity you, Kate, in anticipation of the dis- 
appointment you will experience when you 
know the whole truth, as before long you must.” 
And Mr. Lindley, embracing her, pressed his 
lips to her forehead. 

“ Papa,” she said, as she returned his caresses, 
“ it grieves me to hear you talk so. I am 
sure you will find that you have wrongly ac- 
cused Pierre, and that you will be the one most 
ready to acknowledge your error towards him 
when the proper time comes. Will he not, 
Grace ? ’ 

“ I trust so, Kate,” replied Miss Hartwell, 
“ and the last to believe that he ever could have 
harbored a thought against him when he real- 
izes the misleading nature of hia suspicions.” 

“ I am pleased, Grace,” remarked Mr. Lind- 
ley, “ at these expressions of your faith in my 
son, in view of his continued absence under such 
compromising circumstances, and if it were 
possible for anything short of positive knowl- 
edge of his innocence to relieve my mind of 
these awful suspicions against him, your 
championship of him would go a great way 
with me. It is noble of you, and I am most 
grateful to you for it. I wish that I could 
share your feelings of confidence that Pierre 
will come out from under this cloud, his char- 


152 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


acter cleared and his honor unimpeached, that 
I might have in anticipation the pleasure of 
congratulating him upon the possession of so 
devoted and enthusiastic a friend as yourself. 
But, Grace, I fear you are destined to a disap- 
pointment in your hopes of him. I can see no 
break in the cloud. It is all, all dark to me.” 

“ It may be, just at present, Mr. Lindley,” 
she replied, “but, as ‘ the darkest hour is just 
before the dawn,’ so in this case, while we are 
yet groping around in apparent gloom, we may 
anticipate the light which will surely come and 
dispel whatever doubts and fears we may have. 
Cheer up, sir, and try to believe that ‘ behind the 
cloud ’ which you see ‘ the sun’s still shin- 
ing,’ as to medt has never ceased to shine. Let 
us look at the facts in the case, now that we are 
together, and see if we may not clear away 
some of the mist which obscures it. 

“ Mr. Hopkins, let me ask you, as^the friend 
and confidant of Pierre, if you ever knew him 
to do anything which might in the smallest de- 
gree be considered dishonorable ; whether, in 
your long intimacy with him, you can recall any 
act on his part which would be considered 
among gentlemen as ‘ crooked ? ’ That may 
not be a nice word for me to use, but it has the 
advantage of being comprehensive.” 


.4 FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


153 


“ I think I may truly say, Miss Hartwell,” I 
responded, warmly, “ that previous to this pres- 
ent complication of events, I never saw nor heard 
of anything, as connected with Pierre, which 
could in any way be construed as damaging to 
his well-known character for honesty and busi- 
ness integrity. He has the reputation among 
his associates at the clubs, and in society, of 
being a moral, high-toned man, and one against 
whom no person would dare to whisper a sus- 
picion with regard to his business dealings. No 
man stands higher in the estimation of his 
fellows, and he has always fully deserved their 
confidence. He is, in short, a gentleman.” 

“You certainly give him a good name, Mr. 
Hopkins. Now,” she continued, “ can you im- 
agine any cause which might arise for a gentle- 
man of his standing, with an ample allowance 
of means at his command for any ordinary uses, 
with a fairly growing practice promising him 
future prominence in his profession and a prob- 
able fortune ; does any reason suggest itself to 
you, I ask, why a man in this enviable position 
should steal something less than twenty thou- 
sand dollars in money and diamonds belonging 
jointly to his father and his best friend, aban- 
don his home and profession, and go out into 
the world with only the proceeds of his crime 


154 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


in exchange for the loss of his reputation, his 
friends, his prospective fortune and everything 
which would naturally tend to his happiness in 
life; to wander about alone, in disguise, per- 
haps, of name and person, fearing constantly 
that he might meet some of his old acquaint- 
ances, and, if he should, be obliged to shun them ; 
suspicions of strangers, whom he imagines to 
be officers of the law in pursuit of him ? Have 
I overdrawn the picture ?” 

“ Not at all, Miss Hartwell,” I replied, capti- 
vated by her enthusiasm, as shown in her face- 
which fairly glowed with excitement as she con, 
eluded. “And I thoroughly agree with you 
that no man, in his right mind, could be ex- 
pected to take a step which promised so little 
in exchange for so much. The only cause which 
would ever drive Pierre into so ridiculous a 
position would be the losing of his wits, and, as 
we have every evidence that he was in posses- 
sion of all his faculties up to the time of his 
going away, why, we must, I think, be convinc- 
ed that your very graphic picture will not apply 
to him.” 

After a short interval, she said : 

“ Another thing just here occurs to me as in 
some way connected with Pierre’s absence. I 
refer to that affair of the note which Pierre in- 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


155 


dorsed for his friend Clark. Do you remember 
when that note will be payable, Mr. Lindley ? ” 

“ I do not,” he replied, “ in fact I am not 
certain that Pierre named the date, but my in- 
ference from his statement concerning it was 
that it would come due in about ten days from 
that time, which would bring it somewhere about 
the middle of the month. He spoke to me about 
it on Monday evening, which was the third ; and 
ten days from that time would be the thirteenth. 
Let ’s see to-day is Saturday, the eighth, and next 
Thursday will be the thirteenth. I am not far 
out in my calculation, I think, as to the ma- 
turity of the note, in which case it will be due 
some day in the latter part of next week.” 

“ You are acquainted with this Mr. Clark, I 
believe ? ” she resumed, turning to me. 

“ Very well,” I answered, “ although not as 
intimately as Pierre, who acts as attorney for 
him, I think. Clark is a stock-broker, doing a 
moderate business, is a member of the same 
club as Pierre and myself, and, so far as I know, 
stands very well in business and social circles. 
He is a very clever fellow, and he and Pierre 
have lately taken a mutual liking for each other, 
which has developed into quite an intimacy 
between them. He throws considerable busi- 
ness in Pierre’s way, which fact, I imagine, ac- 


156 A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 

counts for the latter feeling some obligation to 
accommodate him by indorsing the note.” 

“ Very likely,” said Miss Hartwell, complac- 
ently, “ and also quite commendable on Pierre’s 
part, especially as he had no reason to doubt 
the statement of his friend concerning his ability 
to pay it. Do you know anything of Mr. Clark’s 
circumstances ? ” 

“ Not especially, although he is generally un- 
derstood to be making money. Mr. Lindley 
can probably enlighten you some in that way.” 

“ Young Clark,” said Mr. Lindley, “has lately 
come into considerable property from his father’s 
estate, although his affairs are still in an unset- 
tled condition. Much of the property consists 
of uncleared lands and other real estate holdings, 
prospectively valuable, but not immediately 
available. It was concerning the sale of some 
of these lands to which Pierre referred in his 
conversation about the note, a delay in the 
transfer of which was the cause of Clark’s em- 
barrassment at the time.” 

“ Have you seen this Mr. Clark lately ? ” Miss 
Hartwell asked, turning again to me. 

“ Not within a week or so, as I remember,” I 
replied, “ but that is nothing unusual perhaps, 
as he does not come in my way excepting oc- 
casionally at the club. I have spent very little 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


157 


time there during the past week and am quite 
sure that I have not met him in my visits. 
But, why do you ask ? ” I inquired, as I could 
imagine no relation of her question to the sub- 
ject in hand. 

“ Did it never occur to you that possibly this 
Mr. Clark might be able to throw some light 
upon the cause of Pierre’s absence ? ” 

“ Never until now, Miss Hartwell,” I replied. 
“ And even now I do not clearly see why he 
should be able to do so. But your question has 
aroused within me a suspicion that Mr. Clark 
might possibly in some way be of service to us. 
I wonder I had not thought of this before, and 
must credit you, as shown in this as well as in 
several other instances, with having a clearer 
head for this business than I can rightfully 
claim.” 

“ You must remember, Mr. Hopkins,” she re- 
sponded, amiably, “ that I have only come into 
possession of the facts in this case after you 
and others have exhausted every theory which 
naturally suggested itself to you in explanation 
of the mystery surrounding the affair; that I 
have the benefit of your labors, in connection 
with those of the officer, in following up what- 
ever clues appeared and that, consequently, I 
have not participated in your excitement and 


158 A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 

disappointments. Therefore, I see the necessity 
of beginning upon an entirely new course of in- 
quiry, and naturally suggest some points that in 
your previous efforts were overlooked, as I 
doubtless should also have neglected them, as 
having no bearing upon the investigation, at 
that time. Of their present value I cannot of 
course know any more than you, but think that 
they are worth considering. I believe it is de- 
cided that you are to call upon the police again 
for assistance, although it was not settled how 
much you were to tell them. Suppose you de- 
cide that question among you, and then you 
will be ready to submit matters to the officer as 
soon as you may choose to do so.” 

After a short discussion, it was decided that, 
for the present, no mention was to be made to 
the police of the loss of the money, and I was 
authorized to see Sloane at his office on the next 
day, which was Sunday, post him on the new 
turn of affairs, and get him at work as soon as 
possible. Before leaving I learned that Mr. 
Lindley had had several interviews with Mr. 
Blakely, Pierre’s partner, but had learned nothing 
from him as to Pierre’s whereabouts, nor the 
cause of his absence, which seemed as perplex- 
ing to Mr. Blakely as to us. He was firm in his 
advocacy of Pierre’s uprightness, however, and, 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


159 


though he had not succeeded in securing Mr. 
Lindley’s approval of his views, had evidently 
confirmed his friendly regard for him, in thus 
defending his son against his own determined 
condemnation of him. 

“ Blakely is like the rest of you,” he said, 
doggedly, “ he makes ‘ his wish a father to his 
thoughts ’ and, without any justification beyond 
his own blind confidence in Pierre for what he 
has been, he fails to see in his recent actions 
any cause for mistrust in him. Blakely is gen- 
erally very clear-headed, but in this instance I 
fear he is not to be relied upon, shows more 
sentiment than logic, more the feeling of a 
woman (excuse me, Grace, and you too, Kate, 
for speaking so plainly) than that of a shrewd 
lawyer.” 

“ And right royally, sir, has he earned our 
thanks for these proofs of his ability to sink the 
feelings of the lawyer into those of the man- 
and to admit the possibility of any man render, 
ing himself liable to a suspicion of wrong-doing 
by acts which may turn out to be only honor- 
able and just.” 

Mr. Lindley graciously permitted Miss Hart- 
well to have the last word as, I believe, she 
would have if she had continued the argument 
all night. Not that he was at all changed in 


160 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


opinion by her words. It would plainly require 
something more material than words to do that. 
But he liked Miss Hartwell and had since his 
first acquaintance with her, and think his 
regard for her was intensified by her warm 
defense of his son even against his accusa- 
tions. Kate was simply charmed by her 
words, and, though she said very little, 
showed in the approving expression of her 
face, her great satisfaction at having so strong 
an ally. I thought at the time that, if 
Pierre was desirous of securing the affection of 
this noble woman, it would be better for him to 
prolong his absence a while, and let this enthu- 
siastic feeling of confidence in, and regard for 
his honor as shown by her ‘ grow by what it fed 
upon,’ as felt a consciousness that, if undis- 
turbed, it must develop into a more tender 
passion, and before long. 

I left the house, promising the young ladies 
to attend morning service at church with them, 
and in the afternoon to have an interview with 
Sloane, which, under the circumstances, e con- 
cluded would be a comprehensive, if not a 
strictly orthodox way of passing the Sabbath. 


A FLUBB Y IN DIAMONDS. 


161 


CHAPTER XIV. 

I found Sloane at his office when I called, 
and he appeared pleased, though not at all sur- 
prised, to see me. 

“ Well, Mr. Hopkins, I suppose that the 
return of your diamonds, and the girl’s explana- 
tion of matters connected with their temporary 
loss have quieted the excitement up at Mr. Lind- 
ley’s, and everything is lovely, eh ? ” 

“ Not exactly Sloane,” I replied. “ In the 
first place the diamonds have not turned up, 
and, in the next, the girl’s explanation has had 
a disquieting rather than a soothing effect upon 
myself and friends.” 

“ I don’t understand you, sir,” he said, startled 
by my words, “ you don’t mean to tell me that 
the diamonds are still missing ? ” 

“ That is precisely what I mean,” I replied, 
smiling in spite of myself, at his embarrassment, 
as he grasped the force of my words, “ and that 
we are as much in the dark concerning them 
as ever.” 

“ Sit down, if you please, sir,” he said in a low, 


162 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


rapid tone, as he quietly stepped to the door 
and closed it. I complied, and he drew a chair 
close up in front of me, and, seating himself 
he said, quite anxiously : 

“You say that you have not recovered the 
jewelry and that the girl’s explanation, what- 
ever it may have been, has complicated affairs 
more than ever ? Please explain yourself, sir, 
as I own up to being shocked at your state- 
ment. My professional reputation may be at 
stake in this matter.” 

“ It has turned out quite differently from 
what you predicted it would, Sloane,” I replied, 
rather enjoying his discomfiture ; then relent- 
ing, “ Perhaps we made a mistake in not at 
once informing you of the new turn of affairs, 
instead of allowing you to think that you had 
succeeded in clearing up the mystery. But 
when you hear what I have to tell you, you will 
perceive the reason why it was thought better 
to allow you to retire with a false impression 
rather than to acquaint you with the facts as 
they stood, especially as, at that time, it was 
not thought necessary or advisable to further 
employ professional aid. But we have recon- 
sidered the matter and have decided to call up- 
on you again, confident that with the new 
evidence at hand, you will be able to assist us, 


A FL UBR T IN DIAMONDS. - 


163 


and at the same time redeem the mistake into 
which you were led.” 

Sloane had by this time recovered himself, 
and also showed his appreciation of my regard 
for him in again entrusting the case to him, in 
view of his signal failure in the first instance. 

I then told him everything relating to the 
affair with which he was not already acquainted. 
When I reached that part pertaining to Kate’s 
finding of the card in the safe I thought I saw 
him start a little. After I had finished he sat 
for a minute or two reflecting over my state- 
ment before speaking, then said : 

“ The affair has indeed taken on a different 
look, and one which makes it more puzzling to 
me just now than ever. I am alone responsi- 
ble for the present embarrassment of yourself 
and friends, Mr. Hopkins.” 

“ In what way? ” I inquired. 

“ By not attending to my business more 
cautiously. It is the little apparently unimport- 
ant things connected with this and many similar 
cases which are really the hinges upon which 
they turn, and it is the knowledge of this, and 
a careful attention to the smallest details which 
often lead us to success. Oversight or neglect, 
as in this case, of some matter, which to you 
might seem trivial, may be the cause of much 


164 A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 

future trouble. If I had required that safe to 
be opened in my presence ; the chances 
are strong that the card in falling would have 
attracted my attention, and being examined 
would have furnished positive evidence as to 
the missing diamonds. My services in the 
case would then have been at an end, as noth- 
ing would have been required but to send down 
to young Mr. Lindley’s office for further infor- 
mation. He did not leave until several hours 
after that time, as you say, therefore there was 
ample time for you to have cleared up matters 
before he left. It was a serious neglect on my 
part, and one which I very much regret, as it 
not only misled me in my search for the sup- 
posed thief, but has also been the cause of 
much unnecessary trouble and anxiety to your- 
self and friends. I see still considerable diffi- 
culties in the way of our getting at the facts in 
the case, but am ready and willing to do any- 
thing in my power to aid you, and to make 
amends for my great blunder/’ 

He seemed deeply mortified and cast down 
over the affair, and I tried to rally him, by as- 
serting our perfect confidence in him, and my 
own belief that he was making too much of a 
very small matter. 

“ Small perhaps to you, sir, but to me, whose 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 165 

whole reputation hangs on just such little slips 
as this, it is a most important one. However, 
that is past now and the ‘ least said the sooner 
mended.’ I shall try to make up for it in in- 
creased vigilance hereafter.” 

“ I judge from your words, Sloane,” I said, to 
change the subject “ that you are of the same 
opinion as ourselves, (excepting only Mr. Lind* 
ley) that my friend Pierre is innocent of any 
guilt in taking the diamonds ? ” 

“ Entirely so, sir,” he replied, “ as all his 
actions go to prove ; to say nothing of the folly 
of supposing a young man in his position likely 
to throw himself away for a few diamonds.” 

“ How do his actions go to prove his inno- 
cence ? ” 

“ Why, by leaving that card with the mes- 
sage behind him, while he wa's at his office in 
town for hours after he supposed it had been 
read and laughed over,” he replied confidently. 

“ But when it was found and read it was 
neither laughed over nor understood,” I said. 

“ So it appears, but I do not believe he is re- 
sponsible for that,” Sloane replied. “ In some 
way, whatever little scheme he had in mind for 
his amusement miscarried, and he left town in 
ignorance of the result. Probably, if he gave 
it any thought at all, he supposed that it had 
come out all right.” 


166 


A FLURBY IN DIAMONDS. 


“ His father’s belief in his guilt,, how do you 
account for that ? ’ ’I asked. 

“ It is rather strange I admit, but Mr. Lindley is 
a practical matter-of-fact man, and, I should say, 
difficult to convince of the innocence even of 
his own son, where the facts are so strong 
against him. In my study of character I have 
sometimes noticed that parent? will doubt their 
children’s honesty, without properly looking 
into the evidence in search of a motive for their 
acts. It may be a doubt that is born of their 
fears, as some people always take the gloomy 
side of any question, but it seems quite unac- 
countable. I have given you my opinion of 
Mr. Pierre’s actions as founded upon your 
knowledge of and belief in him. Any other 
cause for his acts must be found out from other 
sources.” 

“ What do you mean, Sloane ? ” I asked, 
rather petulantly, as I did not like his words 
which implied my want of knowledge of Pierre’s 
true character. 

“ I mean just this, sir,” he replied, “ if your 
friend did not innocently take those diamonds, 
and if his absence has anything to do with them, 
(which I doubt as you know) there is some rea- 
son for his acts which you would never suspect, 
but which can be discovered from some source. 


A FLXTBET IN DIAMONDS. 


167 


Perhaps his father’s knowledge of some such 
reason is the cause of his bitterness towards 
him. I do not say this is so, mind you, as I 
have every confidence so far in his innocenen 
and shall proceed in that belief to try and dis- 
cover his whereabouts. Failing in this, it will 
be time enough to proceed on the other as- 
sumption.” 

He then asked me the name and location of 
our club, and for the names of some of the 
members best acquainted with Pierre, for the 
address of Walter Clark and also for the loca- 
tion of Pierre’s office, and the came of his part- 
ner. These items he entered in his memoran- 
dum book and then stated that, if he needed 
any further information from me, he would call 
upon or send for me. I suggested that the 
latter would be the better course, as his presence 
at the store where he would probably be recog- 
nized, might necessitate some explanations to 
our employes, which, j ust then, I did not con- 
sider advisable. He coincided with me in this 
view, and so it was arranged that if he wanted 
me he should make an appointment with me at 
his office. I added that he could probably find 
me during the evenings at Mr. Lindley’s house, 
and later at my hotel, if the case was urgent. 
He said that he should probably drop in at Mr. 


168 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


Lindley ’s himself sometime during the next day 
or evening, as it might be necessary for him to 
see the girl, Winnie, and have her explain some 
parts of her story more explicitly, and there were 
other reasons, perhaps, which might call him 
there which did not then appear. 

“ As to the girl,” he said, “ her statement to 
her mistress confirms what you may remember 
I told you, that at the time I was questioning 
her I saw that she was not telling everything 
she knew, that there was something of import- 
ance held back by her. Another thing, her 
story shows that Miss Lindley had left the safe 
door open, as the girl says that she heard young 
Mr. Lindley close and lock it. This is of no 
consequence, that I can see, except that it shows 
a natural cautiousness on his part not to leave 
valuables exposed. The open window, though, 
is still a mystery, no one yet accounting for it. 
It remains with me an important incident, and 
one that I cannot explain in any way consistent 
with our theory as to the disappearance of the 
diamonds. However it does not effect the case 
just now, and perhaps at the proper time it may 
be satisfactorily explained. There is more in 
this affair than I anticipated, Mr. Hopkins, and, 
unless young Mr. Lindley suddenly returns and 
explains matters, it may be some time before we 
are out of the woods.” 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


169 


“ I hope not Sloane, in the interest of all 
concerned, but, like the rest, must trust to fate, 
I suppose. I will not detain you longer, and 
besides I have an engagement to dine with some 
friends at the hotel, and must be going. Good- 
day.” 

I arrived at my rooms, and, after dressing, 
found I had some time to spare before my 
dinner engagement, which was simply to join a 
little family party at the regular dinner of the 
house. I lighted a small cigar and again ran 
over in my mind all the incidents of the past 
week, with a view of straightening out many 
bewildering ideas which had, from time to 
time, occurred tome, and to try to formulate some 
theory upon which I could firmly stand, and 
honestly believe as the truth in this strange 
affair. But the more I thought over it, and 
tried to fit the various parts of it together, the 
more I was puzzled to make anything of it. 
Miss Hartwell’s theories had seemed new and 
reasonable as expounded by her, and agreed 
thoroughly with the views of Sloane, but some- 
how, when I came to quietly ponder over the 
affair, it seemed as much mixed up as ever. In 
my statement to Sloane I had given him every- 
thing which had transpired in connection with 
the diamonds since he had been retired from the 


170 A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 

case, and also told him of the affair of the note, 
and of the various theories and suggestions ad- 
vanced by the different parties, especially those 
of Miss Hartwell. To these latter Sloane had 
appeared to attach the most importance, and 
they coincided in every instance with his own 
views. I fancied that when she met Sloane, she 
would excuse his previous “ blunders ” as she 
called them, when she discovered him to be of 
her way of thinking with regard to Pierre’s ac- 
tions. “ At all events,” I thought, “ something 
may come of it all, and, as these people seem 
quite clear-headed in the matter while I must 
own to being quite befogged at present, I think 
I shall leave them to work it out, without inter- 
ference or suggestions from me.” 

I was getting a little tired of the thing, and 
it was a pleasant relief when the time came to 
go down and join my friends, and in the social 
table gossip to forget for an hour or two every 
thing in any way associated with the affair. 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


171 


CHAPTER XV. 

Mr. Lindley dropped in at the store during 
the next forenoon on his way down to Pierre’s 
office to see his friend Blakely. Kate had 
asked him to call and invite me to join them 
for an afternoon drive and return with them to 
dinner. He said he was goingto drive his new 
pair of browns, and hoped I should find it agree- 
able and convenient to accept, as he wanted my 
opinion of the horses. Thanking him for his 
confidence in my opinion in a matter where his 
own judgment was so reliable, as it was in any- 
thing pertaining to the qualities of a horse, I 
promised to be on hand at the appointed time. 
As he was leaving I reminded him of the fact 
that Sloane knew nothing of the missing money 
and, as he might possibly visit Mr. Blakely in 
his search for points concerning Pierre, I sug- 
gested that he, Mr. Lindley, should explain mat- 
ters to Mr. Blakely. Otherwise he might inno- 
cently divulge the secret to Sloane, as he would 
naturally think the officer to be in possession 
of all the facts connected with Pierre’s absence. 

“ I am glad you have mentioned it, Fred, as 


172 A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 

I might not have thought of it. What does 
Sloane think of matters now that he sees how 
he was misled by the former evidence ? ” 

“He was greatly surprised, I can assure you, 
but, like all of us, excepting only yourself, sir, 
he sees no cause of suspicion against Pierre.” 

“ Possibly not with the lights he has, but if 
he knew all the facts he would probably see 
things more clearly. But let him work it out 
if he can, and then we shall know more about 
it than we do now.” 

“ I hope so, sir,” I replied, “ and that you may 
see how mistaken you have been in your suspi- 
cions.” 

“ So do I, Fred, so do I, and as fervently as 
you, but I fear it is only hoping against hope,” 
he said as he went out. 

We had a most enjoyable drive in a stylish 
English trap drawn by the perfectly matched 
seal-brown horses. Mr. Lindley handled the 
reins at the start, with Miss Hartwell upon the 
box seat beside him, Kate and myself occupy- 
ing the back seat. It was a perfect afternoon, 
warm enough for the season, with a deep, blue 
sky, broken here and there by light clouds 
which skimmed along before a fresh westerly 
breeze casting ever changing shadows over the 
landscape. The Park was already getting on 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


173 


its summer attire, which, in the look of fresh 
verdure of tree and plant and lawn, renders it 
at this season unexcelled as a beauty spot to 
admirers of ‘ Nature, improved by Art,’ the 
roads were smooth and clean, and, as we bowled 
along among the throng of handsome turn-outs 
almost filling the drives, constantly exchanging 
salutations with friends whom we passed or met, 
I noted many admiring glances cast towards 
our veteran driver and his fair companion on the 
box, while his beautiful horses attracted the at- 
tention of many of our acquaintances. Passing 
out of the Park we rode on towards the River- 
side Drive and the tomb of General Grant. 
After we had inspected the latter and enjoyed 
the magnificent view from the hill, Mr. Lindley, 
before starting upon our return, suggested ex- 
changing seats with me. 

“ I see no faults about the horses,” he said, 
evidently highly pleased with them ; “ but per- 
haps, by handling them, Fred, you may discover 
something about them which I cannot see.” 

I was soon seated at the reins, and, turning 
the horses’ heads towards home, we were soon 
under way at a rattling pace. The pair were 
fully up to my expectations, and as nice a driv- 
ing team as I ever saw. With plenty of style 
and action, a rapid, steady, swinging gait and 


174 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


good bottom, they were as kind as kittens, and, 
it seemed to me, could be driven by a child with 
safety. The old gentleman was much pleased 
at my encomiums over them. The drive home 
was, if anything, pleasanter than that going 
out, especially to me in my favorable position, 
as, like Mr. Lindley, I am a lover of horses. 
So also is Miss Hartwell, and a good horse- 
woman too, as I discovered in some of her pre- 
vious visits to the city, when, with Pierre and 
Kate we made up little driving and riding 
parties in pairs and covered all the good roads 
about town in buggies and saddles. 

I gave Miss Hartwell the reins this afternoon, 
but she resigned them to me again shortly, as 
we neared the park, not relishing the ‘ horsey * 
look it might give her, in so conspicuous a 
place. 

“In your light wagon, behind one of your 
trotters,” she said to me “ and in a more retired 
place, I just glory in driving, but upon this box, 
with this heavy team and in this crowd, excuse 
me.” 

We arrived at home all in the best of 
humor, refreshed by our outing and with vigor- 
ous appetites for dinner, which was served as 
soon as we were ready for it. Mr. Lindley 
and myself lingered awhile over our wine 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


175 


after the ladies had left the table, and, as 
we rejoined them in the parlor later, Kate laugh- 
ingly addressed me and said she had something 
important to tell me ; she had discovered a clue 
to my diamonds. I saw at once that she was 
joking, but retaining a sober face, asked her 
what she had found. 

“ Nothing that I have not known since Sat- 
urday, shortly after Grace arrived, and while 
she was showing me her many new things. It’s 
a way we girls have, you know, Fred, of excit- 
ing the envy of our friends. Among her 
jewelry was a pair of solitaire ear-rings which 
struck me as being very like a certain pair of 
yours which are missing. I mentioned it to her, 
and then continued and told her all about our 
excitement here. I had thought nothing more 
about her ear-rings till to-night, when I noticed 
that she was wearing them for the first time. 
Look at them, please, and tell me if they are 
not exactly like the pair over which I hesitated 
so long before deciding upon the pair I 
selected.” 

“ If Miss Hartwell will allow me ? ” I said, 
stooping towards her as she sat. 

“ With pleasure, sir,” she replied, archly, 
“ though I must exact a promise from you, that 
if you agree with Kate as to the similarity of 


176 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


the jewels, you will not put your detective upon 
my track ; for, really, since my arrival here I 
have not felt more secure of my own immunity 
from suspicion than of that of the other mem- 
bers of the household.” 

“You have my promise, Miss,” I replied, 
laughing, but I had scarcely spoken, as I took 
a hasty glance at the pendants, before I inward- 
ly felt that, without employing a detective, I 
should like to know something as to how she 
came into possession of them. Getting a little 
nearer to her for a closer look at them, she 
deftly unhooked one of the ear-rings and passed 
it to me. After a careful examination of it I 
returned it to her and she replaced it in her 
ear. 

“ You look sober, Mr. Hopkins,” she said. 
“ Do you also see so strong a likeness between 
my ear-rings and some of your missing ones ? ” 

“ Decidedly, Miss, I do,” I replied reflectively; 
“ but it may be a mere coincidence.” 

“ Thank you, sir,” she said, in assumed haugh- 
tiness. “ I did not know but that possibly I 
might be taken as an accomplice of Pierre, 
as I am found with part of the booty upon me ; 
or at least something closely resembling it.” 

“Joking aside, Miss Hartwell, have you any 
objections to telling me how long you have 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


177 


had those ear-rings, and where they were pur- 
chased ? ” 

“ None in the least, sir. I selected them my- 
self on Thursday last at one of our leading 
Washington street jewelry stores, Blank & Co’s. 
They were highly recommended by them as of 
first quality and of a new style of setting.’’ 

“ And they are all they claimed for them,” I 
said. “ Your answer proves just what I sup- 
posed might be the case, that there is a mere 
accident in the resemblance. I know the house 
of whom you purchased them very well. They 
are themselves manufacturers of fine goods to 
some extent, and their standing is high. We 
occasionally sell them goods, but not often of 
this class. They would not readily be duped 
into buying stolen jewelry. No, there is nothing 
in it to help us out, though at first glance, I 
thought I saw a way by which your possession 
of these diamonds might put us upon the track 
of mine, and without loss to you.” 

“ I am very sorry then that they have turned 
out not to belong to you instead of to me.” 

A glance at her face was only necessary to 
render it plain that she meant what she said. 

“ But,” she continued, “ in what way did you 
imagine that my diamonds might assist us in 



12 


178 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


“ It is customary in our trade, Miss Hartwell, 
for leading houses to keep all their new designs 
of jewelry to themselves until they are ready to 
offer them upon the market, otherwise their 
patterns would be copied by their less artistic 
competitors and hurriedly forced out among the 
dealers, thus forestalling the originators in the 
sale of them. Now, all of the ear-rings for which 
we are looking are of novel designs and styles of 
settings, original with our house, and none of 
them had ever been offered for sale previous 
to my bringing them here for Kate to choose 
from. They had only that day arrived from 
the factory. Your ear-rings are apparently per- 
fect duplicates of one pair of them, in size, style 
and value, and I am not surprised that Kate 
was impressed by the likeness. I had a hope 
that they might furnish us a clue towards find- 
ing the rest of the lot, but the name of the firm 
of whom you bought them, and the date of pur- 
chase, proves that my suspicions are unfounded. 
It is a mere coincidence, as I said before, an 
accidental production of one of our styles by a 
rival house. It is not the first instance within 
my knowledge of a simultaneous production of 
similar patterns of goods by two houses, although 
such cases are rare. You may continue' to wear 
your very pretty ear-rings in confidence of your 
legitimate ownership of them,” 


A FLUBBY IN DIAMONDS . 179 

Mr. Lindley and Kate had shown much in- 
terest in my explanation, and, like Miss Hartwell 
and myself, were somewhat disappointed that 
nothing had come of this rather odd circum- 
stance, which had at first seemed to promise us 
something of value. It only added another to 
the various incidents of the past few days which 
had proven so misleading and, like them, was 
allowed to pass without further consideration. 

We dismissed the whole subject for the time, at 
Kate’s suggestion, and passed an hour or so in 
discussing other topics, interspersed with a song 
or two by Miss Hartwell, who has a fair voice, 
and with several by Kate, who has a much better 
one. We were enjoying ourselves in our old- 
time way, entirely oblivious of our past excite- 
ment, when Jerry came in and announced that 
Mr. Sloane was in the library and desired to 
see me. I was provoked at being thus inter- 
rupted, and having to return again to the old 
subject, but, as it must always be business before 
pleasure, I excused myself to the ladies, prom- 
ising to soon get through with the officer and 
return. 


180 


A FLUBBT IN DIAMONDS . 


CHAPTEP XVI. 

Sloane had been busy all day and the even- 
ing previous seeking information, and had made 
some interesting discoveries. In the first place 
he had visited several of the club members best 
acquainted with Pierre and Walter Clark, and 
had obtained sufficient information concerning 
them to justify him in believing them both to be 
above suspicion, either morally or financially. 
He had worked this part of his programme 
most ingeniously, and left no impression 
upon these gentlemen that anything was amiss. 

He got his information in an off-hand friendly 
way, being introduced at the club as a friend 
of Clark from out of town, disappointed at not 
finding him there, and so forth. He had passed 
the whole evening at the club and was well 
pleased with the favorable result of his visit. 
In the forenoon he called upon Mr. Blakely, 
with whom he was slightly acquainted, and it 
was at his office where he got the first clue as 
to the cause of Pierre’s sudden absence which 
we had yet obtained. 


A NLVBBY IN DIAMONDS. 


181 


He found Mr. Blakely enthusiastic in Pierre’s 
favor, and anxious to assist him in any way 
possible. It will be remembered that Mr. 
Blakely had been absent from the office for 
some time previous to Pierre’s departure, and 
that the latter left hurriedly soon after his return, 
merely telling Mr. Blakely that he was called 
out of town on private business, and requesting 
him to send word up to the house to that 
effect. 

Mr. Blakely consequently could not know 
the nature of the summons which Pierre had 
received, but it occurred to Sloane that some 
of the clerks in the office might remember if 
any message had been delivered to him which 
had caused his sudden departure. Mr. Blakely 
questioned them all, but none of them could re- 
call any incident of the kind, and Sloane had 
about despaired of getting any knowledge on 
this point, when a bright young lad called Joe 
who proved to be an errand boy at the office, 
happening to come in, Mr. Blakely, without 
much hope of learning anything from him, put 
the same question to him. Hesitating a mo- 
ment to collect himself, he replied that he did 
distinctly remember that Mr. Lindley had re- 
ceived some sort of a message which was deliv- 
ered by a messenger boy, and he, Joe, had 


182 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


signed for it in the messenger’s book and carried 
it to Mr. Lindley. Further than that, he said 
that the latter immediately upon reading the 
message looked at his watch and began to make 
preparations to leave the office, which he re- 
membered he did as soon as Mr. Blakely had 
returned from lunch. He heard Mr. Lindley 
tell his partner to send him, Joe, up to his 
house on his way home to notify his folks of his 
going away. Mr. Blakely, however, did not 
send him, probably because as Mr. Lindley’s 
father came in later in the afternoon he told 
him about it himself. 

Here was one point settled at least. Pierre 
did not run away according to any pre-conceived 
plan, unless he had an accomplice or compan- 
ion, who either accompanied him on his journey, 
or who met him somewhere by appointment, 
all of which that message, if it could be found, 
would doubtless explain. It would also demon- 
strate the truth or falsity of another view of the 
case participated in by both Mr. Blakely and 
Sloane, namely, that the message was an urgent 
call for Pierre to meet some one at a distant point 
on pressing business. In any case the posses- 
sion of that message would serve them a good 
turn just then, and they set about to hunt for 
it, but with slight hopes of finding it. 


A FL UEE T IN DIAMONDS. 183 

Sloane here gave me a graphic account of 
their search, how they closed the doors leading 
out of Pierre’s private office and went over 
everything upon his desk and tables, without 
discovering any trace of the message; how 
finally Mr. Blakely agreed with him that, in a 
matter of such importance to them, and probab- 
ly also to Pierre, they would be justified in un- 
locking the drawers and searching among his 
private papers. With the aid of one of a num- 
ber of small skeleton keys, which he had in his 
pocket, Sloane deftly opened the principal 
drawer of the desk and there, right in front, 
where it had been hastily thrown, lay a telegram. 
It was dated from a small town in the northern 
part of the State, and read as follows : — 

May 4th, 1886. 

Pierre Lindley, 

No Broadway, 

N. Y. 

Take the three-thirty (3 130) train to-day and 
meet me at — Hotel here to-morrow morning. N 
All O. K., I think. 4 

Clark. 

This then was the message which had sum- 
moned Pierre, and in response to which he had 


184 


A FLURRY IF DIAMONDS. 


left upon the mysterious journey so unaccount- 
able to us. 

Upon reading the message it did not take 
long for Mr. Blakely to decide upon his inter- 
« pretation of its meaning, and Sloane fully agreed 
with him. The land belonging to Clark, and 
over the sale of which the trouble had occurred, 
was probably situated somewhere in the vicinity 
of the town from which the message was sent, 
and at which he had appointed to meet Pierre. 
He had evidently preceded the latter in visiting 
the locality, with a view of clearing up the title 
by himself, if possible, and, failing to satisfac- 
torily accomplish this without the assistance of 
a lawyer, had arranged with Pierre, before leav- 
ing, that he should join him as soon as possible, 
after receiving a message to that effect. He 
had discovered a necessity for Pierre’s profes- 
sional services, had summoned him to meet him, 
and Pierre had gone at once as promised. 

If they had correctly interpreted the message 
Sloane should be able partly to corroborate 
their views at Clark’s office, where naturally 
some information should be obtained concern- 
ing his whereabouts for the past eight or ten 
days. As anticipated, upon inquiring of 
Clark’s principal clerk, Sloane learned that Mr. 
Clark had been out of town since Saturday, the 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


185 


first of the month. He believed he was some- 
where up in the Adirondack region, looking 
after the sale of some land. He was uncertain 
at the time he left just how long he might be 
away, but said he thought not over a week or 
so. The clerk added that he was looking for 
him to be back now every day. 

Going back to Mr. Blakely with this confirm- 
atory news, and looking the case over from 
every point, they had about concluded between 
them that there was nothing more to be done 
at that time, as in the natural course of events, 
if they saw matters correctly, Pierre must soon 
return. Clark, in closing his message to Pierre 
had indicated his confidence that they would be 
able to remove the flaws from the title to the 
property, and conclude the transfer. They had 
evidently met with some delays, and Pierre was 
remaining with his friend to see the matter fully 
settled, and the money for the land paid over. 
They were in a region of country where mail 
communication with the outside world was ir- 
regular and infrequent, and the telegraph had 
yet to come, which facts probably accounted 
for their having had from Pierre no explanation 
of his prolonged absence. 

According to the understanding of Mr. Lind- 
ley, senior, Clark’s note would be due within a 


186 A FL XTRR T IN DIAMONDS . 

few days, and they would expedite matters as 
much as possible in order to have the funds 
here to meet it. 

Mr. Blakely had thought it best for Sloane to 
report to me what they had learned, and see if 
I had any suggestions to make with regard to 
further action. He had brought the telegram 
to show me, and, after reading it over and hear- 
ing his statement, I expressed my approval of 
all he had done, and assured him that I fully 
indorsed the views of Mr. Blakely and himself, 
and that I believed we should soon be relieved 
of our anxiety by the return of Pierre, and an 
explanation from him which would clear up the 
mystery with no discredit to any one. 

I requested Sloane to remain while I informed 
Mr. Lindley and the ladies of his interesting 
news, and consulted with them upon the ques- 
tion of letting the case rest without additional 
investigation. 

The girls were overjoyed at the new revela- 
tions, and even Mr. Lindley had to admit that 
Pierre’s case did not look quite so bad. 

“ But I don’t see any way of accounting for 
the loss of your diamonds, nor of my money 
yet, Fred, do you?” and, as he spoke he showed 
that he was still shaken in his confidence in 
Pierre, and that nothing short of a satisfactory 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 187 

accounting for the absence of himself and the 
missing property, and the return of the latter 
intact would reinstate his son in his affection 
and esteem. 

“ I admit, sir,” I replied, “ that none of us is 
yet able to fathom the mystery surrounding the 
disappearance of the jewels and money, but I 
have no fears but that Pierre, when he arrives, 
will unravel the perplexing snarl to our com- 
plete satisfaction. I will further predict, sir 
that when what now seems so puzzling to us is 
made clear, no one will appear in a better light, 
as connected with the happenings of the past 
week, than Pierre himself, and that you, sir, 
will be the first to acknowledge it.” 

“ May God grant you to be right in the first 
part of your prediction, Fred. Then you need 
have no fear but that I will see the latter part 
of it fulfilled to the letter.” 

“ Noble words, sir, and fervently spoken,” 
said Miss Hartwell, trembling with emotion 1 , 
while her great blue eyes filled up with tears, 
as she twined her arms about his neck and 
kissed him. Then, without releasing him, her 
face close to his, and looking him full in the 
eyes, she continued, still hardly controlling her 
feelings. “ Those words sound sweeter to me, 
Mr. Lindley, than any I ever heard you utter. 


188 A FLUIMY IN DIAMONDS. 

In them spoke the true father of one whom I 
believe to be a worthy son, the father, who in 
the very intensity of love for that son, could not 
bear that evil should be even thought of him, 
yet, by a strange combination of events, was 
led in some unnatural way to condemn him, 
without giving him an opportunity to clear him- 
self of suspicions which were always groundless 
to all but you, and which, in the light of our 
present knowledge, we see to have been also 
cruel, if not positively wicked. I always knew, 
sir, that your heart was in the right place, and 
believed that when the proper time arrived, 
your fatherly instinct would assert itself in op- 
position to the unnatural prejudice under which 
you have suffered for the past few days. I join 
you in your prayer, Mr. Lindley, as I am sure 
also do Kate and Mr. Hopkins, with a confi- 
dence as our part that it will be granted to the 
full. Then we shall take pleasure in congratu- 
lating you upon your return to yourself, and in 
blessing you as you fulfill your promise to make 
amends to your son for your temporary blind- 
ness.” 

The old gentleman was visibly affected by 
her words, but rallied himself in a moment, and 
kissing her as she withdrew, replied : 

“ It has been difficult for me, Grace, to with- 


A FLURRY IN DIA3I0NDS. 


189 


stand the appeals so often made to me by Kate 
in behalf of her brother, but there have appeared 
to me strong evidences against him which I 
could not put aside. There seems some war- 
rant now for your faith in Pierre, and I ac- 
knowledge to a growing feeling of hope within 
me that perhaps you and the others here have 
been nearer the truth in your opinion than I 
have. We are not out of the woods yet, Grace, 
and these hopes may never be fulfilled, but I 
shall take courage from your deep feeling of 
trust in my son, which more than anything has 
served to assist me in bearing up against this 
trouble. If Pierre should come out of this af- 
fair unscathed he will owe you a debt of grati- 
tude, my dear, which, I fear, he will never be 
able to repay. But I can assure you that it 
shall be from no fault of mine if he does not 
make the attempt. I imagine, however, that 
he has inherited enough of his father’s percep- 
tive qualities to be able to know when the wind 
is setting favorably for him without much 
prompting. How is that, Fred?” and Mr. 
Lindley fairly chuckled with delight, as he 
noted Miss Hartwell’s growing blushes, and 
turned to me with a sly wink. 

“ It was well put, sir,” I replied, smiling, “ and 
I have hopes in that direction as well as your- 


190 


A FLU BUY IN DIAMONDS. 


self but, as I see that Miss Hartwell appears 
quite surprised, not to say ruffled, at our as- 
sumptions perhaps we would better allow mat- 
ters in that direction to take their own course.” 

Miss Hartwell had by this time recovered 
her equanimity, andwas looking terribly severe 
at me. 

“ I quite agree with you, Fred,” said Kate, 
in sympathy with her friend, “ It is not right to 
discuss such matters in the presence of the 
persons in interest, or rather in the presence of 
but one of them. It is quite embarrassing.’’ 

As it was not plain that Kate had helped 
matters much by her sympathetic interference 
in behalf of her friend, and as the subject was 
growing somewhat embarrassing all around, 
we dismissed it with a hearty laugh. I had 
quite forgotten Sloane, who all this time was 
waiting in the library for my return with what- 
ever orders we might have for him. Refer- 
ring to this fact, I inquired what course it 
^ would be best to take, and was answered by 
I Miss Hartwell, who expressed a desire to see 
the officer and suggested my calling him into 
the parlor and discussing the matter there. 

“ I never met a real live detective, you know, 
and, from what I have read of them in books, 
have always imagined them to be quite differ- 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 191 

ent from ordinary people, that they were able 
to see through a mill-stone if necessary, and 
quite competent to draw out all of the facts in 
any case, however hidden, by some inherent 
cleverness of which they possess a monopoly, 
and which ordinary mortals cannot acquire. I 
admit that my faith in their powers has been 
somewhat shaken by my knowledge of your 
experience in this case, but all the same, I 
should like to meet this Mr. Sloane, as just now 
he seems to be showing more shrewdness than 
I thought him capable of, with no offense to 
you, Mr. Hopkins.” 

As there was some justification for her harsh 
criticism of Sloane’s ability we could only smile 
at her allusions, and, there being no impro- 
priety in calling him in, I went and summoned 
him. 

We soon returned and Sloane met with a 
very polite reception by both of the ladies. 
He appeared a little confused at first by his 
surroundings in the elegant drawing-room, and 
somewhat diffident over the attentions he re- 
ceived, but he soon recovered himself and 
joined in the conversation in his naturally easy 
way. 

We were discussing the advisability of follow- 
ing up the clues obtained as to Pierre’s journey, 


192 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


and of dispatching the officer upon the trail 
when, suddenly, we heard the street door close 
and the footsteps of some person in the hall. 
Mr. Lindley started with the evident purpose of 
discovering who the intruder might be, but had 
scarcely left his chair before the footsteps ceased 
and there, standing at one side of the drawn 
portiere, curiously peering into the room, stood 
Pierre. 


A FLURRY IN DIAMOND $. 


193 


CHAPTER XVII. 

We all, save Sloane, jumped to our feet and 
stood in startled surprise. Mr. Lindley stopped 
as suddenly as if he had been shot, and altogether 
there must have been presented for Sloane’s 
admiration as interesting a tableau as it had 
been his lot to witness for many a day. 

The silence for a few moments was intense. 
No one either moved or spoke for the space of 
a minute, as it seemed to me, when, slowly 
moving through the doorway, Pierre stepped 
into the room, his eyes moving from one to 
another of us, with an expression in his face of 
mixed wonder and curiosity which I shall prob- 
ably never forget. 

The situation seeming to strike Miss Hart- 
well as something ludicrous, she was the first to 
break the silence. 

“ When we get our wits after this sudden in- 
terruption, perhaps we may resume our polite- 
ness and — ■” 

“ Excuse me, Grace,” broke in Mr. Lindley, 
turning towards us, “ I know what you would 


194 


FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


say, but I claim the right to settle this matter 
in my own way.” Turning again to Pierre, 
“ As there are some explanations required of 
you, sir, before you can resume your position 
and standing in this house, you will oblige me 
by leaving this room with me, and, in a more 
retired place, explaining your peculiar actions 
of the past week.” 

Pierre stood with his eyes riveted upon 
his father’s face, deeply interested in his 
words. As Mr. Lindley concluded Pierre, with 
an uneasy, inquisitive sort of look towards the 
ladies and myself, and a rapid glance at Sloane, 
who still remained seated, responded : 

“ Well, father, I must confess that this is a 
rather peculiar kind of reception for one to get 
at home after a week’s knocking about the 
country. I am completely in the dark as to 
what it all means, and, my curiosity being con- 
siderably excited, I desire to get at the bottom 
of it as soon as possible. I am ready, sir.” 

They had no sooner left the room than, 
relieved of the strain of our late embarrassing 
situation, and recovering our senses, we began 
exchanging views as to the upshot of the affair. 
We should soon know the result so that any 
further conjectures would not be in place, yet 
we all agreed that, so far, Pierre, in word and 


A FLURRY II ST DIAMONDS. 


195 


action, had indicated that our confidence in him 
had not been misplaced. We had not long to 
wait, yet to us in our suspense the minutes 
seemed drawn out into hours. 

Presently they returned, Mr. Lindley with his 
arm locked into Pierre’s and the faces of both 
covered with smiles. Advancing towards us, as 
they reached the middle of the room they halted, 
and Mr. Lindley spoke as follows : 

“ A great load has been lifted from my heart 
to-night, one that I did wrong in ever permit- 
ting to rest there at all. I need only say further 
that the first part of your prophecy, Fred, has 
been fulfilled to the letter, and that it only- 
remains for me to keep my promise to you to 
render it complete. I have already obtained 
Pierre’s forgiveness of my sin towards him, and 
I turn him over to you for your congratulations, 
as I freely acknowledge the cruelty and wicked- 
nes (as Grace would call it) of my mistaken 
suspicions against him. When you get through 
with him I fancy from some things which came 
out in our interview, that he may have a story, 
to tell which will have some interest to all here 
including our friend, Mr. Sloane.” 

If Pierre had thought his former reception 
peculiar he must have considered it fully com- 
pensated for in the warmth of the welcome 
which then met him. 


196 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


Kate was exuberant in her joy, alternating 
in tears and smiles as she hugged and kissed 
him. 

Miss Hartwell, though not demonstrative 
in manner, showed much feeling in congratulat- 
ing him upon his return. For myself, I told 
him that, though I was not at all surprised at 
the happy ending to the comedy, at the same 
time I was glad, more on behalf of the others 
than on my own account, that he had relieved 
us of further suspense. 

When we introduced Sloane to him he re- 
ceived him most cordially, and insisted upon 
his remaining to hear his account of some inci- 
dents of the case which might interest him. 

We were soon all seated and eagerly waiting 
for him to commence his story. 

Looking around our little circle his counten- 
ance showing a self-complacent, amused sort of 
look, he began : 

“In the first place, Fred, I suppose your dia- 
monds should be accounted for, so far as my 
knowledge of them goes. I am greatly sur- 
prised at hearing from father that you know 
nothing of their whereabouts. It is very 
strange, but perhaps after hearing what I have 
to say about them, you may be better able to 
account for their second disappearance than I 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


197 


As he proceeded he had assumed a serious 
look not at all feigned. What can he mean, I 
thought, completely taken aback by his words. 
Certainly, so far he was not very reassuring to 
our hopes with regard to the missing jewels. 
Noticing my inquiring look, which was reflected 
in the faces of the others, excepting Mr. Lindley, 
he continued : 

“ To go back to the beginningof this curious 
affair : Last Tuesday morning on my way 
down to breakfast, as I was starting down the 
upper stairway, I saw father coming from his 
rooms. When he was passing the door leading 
into Kate’s front room he suddenly stopped, 
apparently startled by something which he saw 
within the room. Hesitating only a moment, 
he stepped inside the door, and I, considerably 
interested in his strange movements, quietly 
moved down a few steps until I had a clear 
view of the room. What followed then you all 
know, how he removed the diamonds and car- 
ried them through into his own room and locked 
them in his drawer after having discovered 
Winnie handling them. Winnie came hurry- 
ing out and up the stairs, without seeing me, 
until she had nearly run against me. Waiting 
a few moments for father to get through with 
the diamonds and go down-stairs, I went cau- 


108 ^ FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 

tiously down and into his room to carry out a 
little scheme which had occurred to me while 
watching his manoeuvres. In the first place I 
thought him over-cautious and mistakenly sus- 
picious of the girl, and in the next place was 
amused over his peculiar choice of a place for 
securing the diamonds. To convince him of the 
fact that he had not insured their safety by 
merely placing them out of sight, I conceived 
the plan of removing them from the drawer, and 
returning them to their proper owner. As I 
passed the safe in going into his room I noticed 
that it stood wide open. This fact I saw would 
prove of advantage to me in carrying out my 
little joke. Why Father had not availed him- 
self of the safe in secreting the diamonds was 
incomprehensible to me, as I thought he must 
have noticed that it was open when he went 
past it on his way out the first time. As you 
are aware, I was not long in securing the jewels, 
after which I wrote the message to Kate upon 
the back of one of her photographs which I 
luckily found in the drawer. As I turned to go 
the idea struck me that if I should raise the 
window over the back porch it would add to the 
excitement when the diamonds were missed, 
and, acting upon the idea, I threw it open be- 
fore going out. While I was fumbling about 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 19 $ 

the drawer I chanced to look into the mirror 
in front of me, when I saw the girl Winnie re- 
flected therein as she stood in Kate’s room, an 
interested observer of my movements through 
the medium of the mirror there. I cannot say 
whether or not she caught my glance, if she 
did she gave no evidence of it, that I could see. 
I placed the card in the safe in such a position 
that I supposed it would be the first thing 
noticed when the safe door was opened. I 
locked the safe for two reasons ; the first being 
that, as there was much valuable property in it, 
it was as well to have it secured ; the other and 
most important one to me just then was, that, 
when the diamonds were missed, search would 
naturally be made to discover if anything else 
were taken, and Kate, remembering the open 
safe, would hurry there, and, finding it locked, 
upon opening the door would discover my mes- 
sage. I never imagined it to be possible that 
any but a correct interpretation of the message 
could occur to either you, father, or Kate, but, 
to make myself secure against your misappre- 
hension of my meaning, I suggested your 
showing it to Fred when he should call for the 
diamonds, as I fancied he would do on his way 
down to business. I had no doubt but that he 
would see through my plan. I wrote the mes- 


200 


4 FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


sage hastily, perhaps somewhat excitedly too, 
and its meaning may have been somewhat ob 
scure, but, if my plan had worked as I had anti- 
cipated, that would have been of little account, 
as you had plenty of time before I left town in 
the afternoon to have straightened matters out. 
It was an unfortunate omission that you made 
in neglecting to look in the safe at first, and 
how you, Mr. Sloane, should have overlooked it 
I cannot easily comprehend. The conversation 
at the breakfast table was convincing to me 
that the plot which I had laid for a little scare 
to both father and Kate would prove successful. 
I saw nothing of how it was possible for it to 
miscarry, as it appears to have done, with such 
unfortunate accompaniments. Father it ap- 
peared had hidden the diamonds more in spirit 
of mischief, and to have a little fun at Katie’s 
expense, than from any fear of their being 
stolen. Taking the cue from him, I coincided 
with him in his reproofs of Katies carelessness, 
while I inwardly chuckled over the clever man- 
ner in which the tables would be turned against 
him by my little scheme. 

“ I went first to my office after leaving here, 
as I thought it a little early for you to be at 
your store. I soon became busily engaged and 
all thoughts of the diamonds and the joke con- 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


201 


nected with them slipped from my mind for 
the time. It must have been somewhere be- 
tween ten and eleven o’clock, when, in search- 
ing my pocket for something, my hand came 
in contact with the box, and I was suddenly re- 
minded of the diamonds. Seizing my hat, I 
went immediately around to your place. I 
learned that you had gone out, but that your 
father was in the office. As I had not much 
time to spare I decided to leave the jewels with 
him and not wait for your return. Acting upon 
this decision, I walked into the office, explained 
matters to your father and left the diamonds in 
his care. Here ends my knowledge of them, 
and, I think, also my responsibility for them.” 

I was completely mystified by this statement 
of his disposition of the jewels, although I had 
anticipated, shortly after he began, what it 
would lead to. 

“ Were there any persons in the office with 
father while you were there ? ” I asked. 

“Yes,” he replied, “one or two gentlemen 
who were strangers to me, and who were about 
leaving as I entered, and, now I think of it, 
your traveling man, Watson, was sitting there 
reading a newspaper. We had a short con- 
versation together before your father was dis- 
engaged with the other persons.” 


202 A FLUJRBT IN DIAMONDS. 

“ Did Watson learn of your errand there ? ” 
I asked eagerly, for I began to suspect some- 
thing “ or see the ear-rings ? ” 

“ Yes, to both questions,” he replied. “ As 
your father was looking over the jewels, after 
I told him how I came by them, he called Wat- 
son up to see them. Of course I took no re- 
ceipt for them, merely stating that one pair of 
twelve submitted by you had been selected and 
retained, that you knew of this and which pair 
it was. I requested your father to count them 
and see that there were eleven pairs in the box, 
to which he laughingly assented, and pronounced 
them all right. 

“You certainly should be able to account for 
their absence in some way, Fred ; at least so it 
appears to me.” 

“ There is only one explanation,” I said, 
“ which I can think of which promises anything 
like a probable solution to this new mystery, 
and, in the absence of any other, I shall pro- 
ceed upon that. It is that Watson added the 
whole lot of those ear-rings to his stock of jewel- 
ry, which had already been selected and packed. 
It is all right, of course, provided it is true, as I 
had intended to have him take them or part of 
them with him. But that father should have 
given them to him, without having made any 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


203 


memorandum of the fact, or mentioned it to me, 
is very strange and not according to his usual 
careful business ways. True, in the excite- 
ments of that day, and my absence from the 
store until after he had left, he may have had 
no opportunity of speaking to me, but he cer- 
tainly could not have omitted to make some 
record of the affair and put it with the other 
papers which he left for me to attend to. It is 
strange indeed, but there is no doubt but that 
the diamonds are all right, Pierre, and will be 
properly accounted for. Watson will return 
to-morrow morning and therefore I shall soon 
learn whether he knows anything about them. 
Father himself will not be back until the last 
of the week, but I know his present address and 
shall telegraph him for information, if I do not 
succeed in getting what I want from Watson. 
You can rest assured that through one or the 
other of them we shall learn all we want to 
know. 

“ But proceed with your story, as we are im- 
patient for an explanation of other matters fully 
as important as this of the diamonds.” 

Resuming, Pierre said : 

“ Father has told me, Mr. Sloane, about the 
finding of the telegram in my desk, and how you 
and Mr. Blakely, connecting it with the discov- 


204 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


ery of Walter Clark’s absence from the city on 
business pertaining to the sale of certain lands, 
and with my indorsement of his note, formulated 
a theory which seemed to account for my sudden 
departure. You have my thanks for your 
charity towards me in this respect, when the 
case against me had so bad a look that father 
himself could not be convinced of the plausibil- 
ity of your reasoning. It was a very ingeniously 
constructed theory, sir, and, unlike many of such 
structures, it had the merit of being strictly 
correct, and only needs a little filling in of de- 
tails on my part. 

“ Clark had negotiated the sale of a large 
tract situated in the heart of the Adirondacks. 
The purchase was in the interest of parties who, 
in prospecting for a site for a hotel, had selected 
this tract as especially available for their uses. 
It was situated in a picturesque region high up 
among the hills, and enclosed a pretty little 
lake. It was at a considerable distance from 
the railways, and to reach it necessitated a long 
ride over pretty rough roads. These facts had 
heretofore tended to keep its attractions un- 
known to all but comparatively few of the 
visitors to those parts, but the growing popular- 
ity among our people of a summer life in these 
grand old woods has made a demand for sites 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


205 


like this of Clark’s, and they are rapidly ad- 
vancing in value. He had obtained the promise 
of a good price for the land, the papers were 
being prepared, and he was expecting to soon 
consummate the deal, when this hitch occurred 
through a flaw in the title being discovered in 
searching the records. As soon as he was 
notified of the trouble he hurried up there, to 
confer with the lawyers on the other side, 
hoping that he might be able to clear the matter 
up by himself, without assistance from me. It 
was arranged before he started, that, failing 
to accomplish his object promptly, he should 
telegraph me, and I should join him at some 
designated point as soon as possible. This was 
the situation of affairs when the message arrived 
last Tuesday and in response to which I left 
town so suddenly. Some time previous to this, 
however, I had received the money on father’s 
account and had placed it in the office safe, ex- 
pecting to bring it up to him when I came 
home that evening. As I looked at my watch 
after receiving Clark’s message, I found that I 
should have time enough, on my way to the 
cars, to stop at the bank and deposit the money. 
I thought this the best plan I could follow with 
regard to it, and did so without stopping to con- 
sider the fact that father would have no way of 
knowing what I had done. 


200 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


‘ Mr. Blakely came into the office just as I 
was ready to leave and I forgot to mention any- 
thing to him about my receipt of and disposition 
of the money, though I think I did request him 
to send word up here about my going away. 
Father tells me that he called at the bank next 
day upon other business and that, while there, 
he got his pass-book which he had left there 
some time before. If he had examined that 
book carefully he would have found, under the 
proper date, an entry of the deposit to his credit, 
as he can inform you he did so find it a few 
minutes ago, when he consulted the bank-book 
at my suggestion. 

“ I met Clark at the appointed time and place, 
and together we set about it to remove the diffi- 
culties in the way of the transfer. These diffi- 
culties, of themselves, were slight, merely the 
result of carelessness on the part of some one, 
connected with a former deal in the property, 
in not getting the signatures of some distant 
heirs. But it required considerable traveling 
here and there about that rough country before 
we succeeded in finding all the parties. We 
managed finally to obtain all the desired signa- 
tures, in some cases without much difficulty, in 
others only after considerable argument, and 
for cash considerations. 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


207 


“We closed up the matter late on Saturday, 
Clark received his money, and we started for 
home as soon as possible.” 


201 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS . 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

I have given Pierre’s story as nearly as I can 
remember it in his own words, and without 
commenting upon the effect which certain parts 
of it produced upon different members of the 
party. He was allowed to proceed without in- 
terruption, although it was amusing to note his 
study of our faces at various important points 
of the story. As he concluded he was again 
overwhelmed with the congratulations of all 
present, and must have felt himself quite a hero 
in our estimation. 

The reference to the missing money must 
have been quite surprising to Sloane, as it was 
the first intimation he had had concerning it. 

Conversation over the various incidents of 
the affair became most animated now that 
everything seemed so plain and clear. 

“ I wonder,” said Miss Hartwell, “ how you 
ever got into such a tangle over the affair in 
the first place, now that we know the truth.” 

“ Easily enough,” I replied, “As you will see 
when you recall our mistakes and omissions 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


200 


at important points of the investigation. With 
regard to the diamonds the first and most dis- 
astrous blunder occurred, as he admits himself, 
when Mr. Sloane omitted to see the safe opened. 
In connection with the safe Kate also must own 
to a little remissness, in that she left the door 
open after removing the diamonds and after- 
wards failed to notice that some one besides 
herself must have closed it. The circumstance 
of the card falling face up. and thus hiding what 
was written upon its back was unfortunate. But 
to the girl Winnie must be attributed, more 
than to any one else, a cause for our being so 
misled in our suspicions. I cannot understand 
why, with her knowledge of Pierre’s actions, she 
should have allowed herself to rest under sus- 
picion for hours after she might have cleared 
both herself and her brother, and at the same 
time have saved us much needless trouble and 
anxiety.” 

“ Why, Fred,” said Pierre, laughing, “ don’t 
you see that Winnie had too high a regard for 
me to renounce me to my own family as a thief, 
preferring rather to allow herself to be suspected 
for a time, thus giving me a chance to get be- 
yond reach ? When matters began to look 
serious for her and that worthy brother of hers, 
and after I had secured a good start, she ‘ gave 


210 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


me away 9 to Kate, but, as she, Winnie, had 
anticipated, it was then too late to overhaul me. 

I am sorry that she made so serious an error, 
by her mistaken zeal in my behalf, but must ac- 
knowledge my obligations to her for the friend- 
liness of her motives.” 

“ Do you think that Winnie suspected you of 
really stealing the diamonds ? ” I asked, rather 
surprised at his words. 

“ I certainly do,” he answered. “ What else 
do her actions indicate. She evidently followed 
me down the stairs and watched me unobserved 
as she thought, just as she would any thief. 
Then in her account of it to Kate she showed 
that such was her idea, and, really, I do not 
much wonder at it when I consider the circum- 
stances, and that she was not the only one to 
whom my actions gave the same impression,” 
with a sly glance at his father. “ Just here I 
have something to tell you which will be news 
to all of you, and rather startling news too, I 
fancy. It was fortunate for' you, Fred, that I 
took charge of your diamonds, as otherwise they 
would probably have fallen ‘ into the hands of a 
less worthy person,’ as I put it in my message 
to Kate, although when I wrote those words I 
had not yet learned what I now tell you. 

“ Before leaving the house that morning I 


A FLURRY IK DIAMOKDS. 


211 


went from the breakfast table to my room for 
something I had forgotten. On the way I 
heard loud talking and wrangling in the direc- 
tion of Winnie’s room, and, as I caught some- 
thing about ‘ money ’ and 4 diamonds,’ I became 
interested, and, secreting myself inside my 
room, I listened. I soon found that Winnie 
was having some sort of a quarrel with her 
brother, Richard, as she called him. He 
seemed very angry and talked in a loud voice 
while his sister spoke in low, cautious tones 
and was trying to quiet him. I soon caught 
enough of their conversation to discover that 
Richard had, by some means, learned of the 
presence in the house of an unusual number of 
diamonds, and had come here to steal them. 
He had either been caught by Winnie while 
he was prowling around the house in search of 
them, or else had come up there for the pur- 
pose of compelling her to assist him in the 
theft. Winnie seemed terrified at his words 
and was trying to induce him to leave by offer- 
ing him money, but, although I fancy he took 
the money, he did not seem disposed to go. 
Finally, I heard her tell him that the diamonds 
were not in the house, that they had been 
already stolen, and that, if he did not leave the 
house before the family came up from breakfast 


212 A FLURBY IN DIAMONDS . 

and discovered the loss, he would get himself 
and her into trouble. The fellow would not at 
first be convinced that she was telling the truth, 
but when she repeated her statement, and also 
added that she had witnessed the robbery, 
(although she did not name the thief) and that 
there would soon be great excitement over the 
affair, he appeared to consent to go. In a mo- 
ment they passed my door on their way down- 
stairs. I was surprised that he should accept 
her statement about her having seen the dia- 
monds taken without further question ; but he 
was greatly excited, and is probably not very 
sharp, and consequently failed to notice the impro- 
bability of her having witnessed a robbery, and, 
instead of notifying the family of the fact, wait- 
ing for them to discover the loss themselves. 
I congratulated myself over the lucky escape 
of your diamonds, Fred, and saw something be- 
sides a joke in my having taken them, and in 
my allusion to both father and Kate in the 
message as being ‘ improper custodians of them.’ 
Really, in the light of what I then knew, my 
message seemed almost prophetic.” 

We were all deeply interested in this state- 
ment by Pierre, but not more so than Sloane, 
who, throughout its recital, sat with his eyes 
steadily fixed upon him. When he had con- 


FLURRY IN DIAMONDS . 


213 


eluded, Sloane, addressing me, said in a very 
self-satisfied manner : 

“ This story furnishes another proof, sir, of 
the correctness of my suspicion that the girl in 
her statement did not tell all she knew. No 
wonder that Miss Lindley found her excited 
before she told her of the supposed robbery, 
considering the experience she had just passed 
through witnessing in what she believed to be 
the theft of the diamonds by young Mr. Lindley, 
followed so soon by the disgraceful actions of 
her brother. I knew well enough at the time 
that if she would only tell us all she knew it 
would be of service to us. I was misled by her 
into suspecting her of being in league with 
Richard, but it appears that I did not go far 
astray in my suspicions against him. I could 
not be supposed to know that Mr. Pierre had 
anticipated him in getting hold of the jewels, 
thus interrupting his little game. I own up to 
my mistake with regard to the girl, and am 
sorry that she should by her reticence have 
aroused my suspicions against her. I was not 
responsible for that. When she learns of the 
results in this case she will see that her mis- 
taken course has led to unnecessary trouble 
and confusion, while it has not benefited either 
herself or her brother,” 


214 


A FLU RUT IN DIAMONDS . 


“ We appreciate your interest in the affair, 
Sloane,” I replied, “ and are under many obliga- 
tions to you. Although you were not successful 
in your first efforts here, I can see now that 
if we had allowed you to proceed in your own 
way instead of retiring you when you suppos- 
ed you were upon the point of success, you 
would have gotten at the real facts of the case 
several days sooner than you finally did.” 

“ In what way, Fred? ” eagerly asked Kate. 

“ If we had informed Mr. Sloane,” I answered 
“ of Winnie’s story to you, and of Pierre’s 
absence, of course he would have proceeded at 
once to find a cause for the latter, and would 
have settled it all in a day or two, just as he did 
when we finally told him of those facts. Or, 
even if we had not told him ourselves, the im- 
prisonment of Richard and her own threatened 
arrest would have caused Winnie to tell him of 
what she saw reflected in the mirror, and the 
result would have been the same.” 

“ I see it, Fred,” said Mr. Lindley, “and that 
the discharge of Mr. Sloane was another blunder 
on my part.” 

“ I am afraid, sir,” I replied, “ that if we con- 
tinue looking for blunders, as you call them, 
we shall find that none of us are exempt from 
their commission, excepting only Pierre. 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


215 


Therefore I propose that we cease speculating 
over the what-might-have-beens of the past and 
congratulate each other and ourselves upon the 
present happy termination to our perplexities, 
Nothing remains to entirely clear us of fur 
ther doubt but a confirmation of my belief 
as to my father’s disposition of the dia- 
monds, which I am confident I shall have early 
to-morrow. If I am right in this supposition. 
I shall also be able to prove Miss Hartwell to 
be the legitimate owner of a choice pair of the 
missing brilliants.” 

While all, excepting Pierre and Sloane, knew 
something of the drift of my latter remark, 
they all seemed equally astonished at it. 

After Miss Hartwell had explained in a droll 
manner to Pierre and Sloane the temporary ex- 
citement which a fancied resemblance between 
the solitaire ear-rings which she was then wear- 
ing and some of my missing ones had created, 
she turned to me and asked in what way I ex- 
pected to prove the identity of the jewels. 

“ Very simply,” I replied, “ our man Watson 
evidently sold some of the ear-rings soon after 
his arrival in Boston to Messieurs Blank & Co., 
and you became a ready purchaser of a pair of 
them, all of which goes to show the fine artistic 
taste possessed by yourself and the gentlemen 


216 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


in question. I thought I could not easily be 
deceived in our own work, but the facts con- 
nected with your purchase of them compelled 
me, at that time, to abandon any hope of ob- 
taining from them a clue worth following. 
Just now, those very facts are strong evidences 
to me that Mr. Watson will to-morrow confirm 
what I have predicted.’ , 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


217 


CHAPTER XIX. 

It turned out just as I supposed. 

Next morning, on reaching the store, I found 
Watson already there. 

Father had given him all the ear-rings returned 
by Pierre. He had sold several pairs of them 
to Blank & Co. on the day after he had left the 
store, and a reference to his memorandum 
book showed that the pair purchased by Miss 
Hartwell was among those thus sold. 

Among the letters in the morning mail upon 
my desk was one from father, enclosing a 
“ Memorandum of diamond ear-rings returned 
to store by Mr. Pierre Lindley which I gave to 
Mr. Watson to add to his stock for Boston 
trip." 

Here followed a list of numbers and marks 
taken from eleven pairs of ear-rings which, upon 
comparison, tallied with my private memoran- 
dum of those which I took with me to Mr. 
Lindley ’s house. 

Including the pair selected by Kate, they 
were all accounted for. 


218 A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 

Father, in his letter, explained the enclosure 
by saying, that in looking for a certain paper 
in his pocket-book he had found this instead, 
and could only account for its presence there 
and the absence of the other paper by suppos- 
ing that he had mistaken one for the other at 
the office. The private paper to which he re- 
ferred contained the names of some hotels and 
other information of value to tourists, which he 
had jotted down at the suggestion of a friend 
who had called at the office, and who was ex- 
perienced in the section which father proposed 
visiting. In his haste at leaving he probably 
placed the wrong paper in his pocket-book, in 
which case I had probably found the other 
among the papers and letters which he had left 
for my attention. It was of no value then, and 
I might destroy it, if I had not already done so, 

I remembered some pencil notes such as he 
mentioned which I had found among other 
papers upon my desk. As they did not interest 
me in any way, I did not understand why they 
had been placed there, and had returned the 
paper to father’s desk for him to dispose of upon 
his return. It still remained there, and an ex- 
amination of it showed it to be the paper for 
which he was searching when he came across 
the memorandum of the ear-rings. The two 


< FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


219 


papers were exactly alike in size and shape, and 
might easily be mistaken for each other by a 
person in haste. Such errors frequently occur 
but are seldom followed, I fancy, by results as 
serious as followed this oversight of father’s. 

His letter cleared up the only remaining 
mystery connected with the diamonds, and 
nicely rounded up the explanations previously 
made by Pierre. 

What at one time had looked to be so serious 
an affair, had, now that the light was turned 
upon it from all directions, proven to be but a 
singular mixture of incidents which, harmless 
of themselves, by their peculiar combination 
had been the cause of much anxiety, perplexity 
and trouble. 

Now that it had terminated so happily we 
might laugh over our experiences, but, all the 
same, would not wish soon to repeat them. 


220 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 


CHAPTER XX. 

As soon as she learned of Pierre’s return and 
of his explanations which followed it, Winnie 
made a clean breast to Kate of her rencontre 
with her brother, as overheard by Pierre. 

It had greatly alarmed her, and she had since 
been in constant fear that, when matters had 
quieted down again in the house, Richard might 
repeat his visit. 

Kate consulted with her father and Pierre on 
the subject, and, as a result of their conference, 
Pierre visited Richard at his home, told him 
what he had overheard, and promised him 
clemency if he would agree to leave the city ) 
and remain away. Richard accepted the alter- 
native, and, provided by Pierre with a passage 
ticket and enough money to furnish him sup- 
port until he could secure employment, he left 
for a far distant western town. I leave him 
there in the hope that, separated from his old 
companions and the temptations of city life, and 
dependent upon his own energies he may re- 
deem himself from his bad character and habits, 


A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 22l 

and start upon a career of honesty and in- 
dustry. 

As it may be expected of me to give some 
further information upon a more interesting 
part of my story, I will say that I have an en- 
gagement to appear in Boston shortly as best 
man to Pierre at his marriage with Grace Hart- 
well, to whom Kate is to be first bridesmaid. 

I am still a frequent visitor at the Lindley’s, 
more so than usual just at present, as the ar- 
rangement of details of the approaching wed- 
ding appears to require many conferences be- 
tween us. 

I have tried to comfort myself in my bachelor- 
hood with the thought that Kate, feeling the 
loss of her brother’s society, might possibly 
allow me to take his place in her sisterly 
affection. I mentioned the subject to Pierre 
the other day, and his answer was such a pe- 
culiar one, that I have been puzzling over it 
ever since to try and get at what he meant. 
Said he : 

“ Kate don’t want any other brother, and, if 
she did, you ought to see that you could not 
properly assume the r61e. That is not what is 
ailing you, my boy. Your symptoms indicate 
something more serious. 


222 A FLURRY IN DIAMONDS. 

“ Kate is also, I think, suffering from some 
cause. Grace and I had similar premonitory 
symptoms, and I suggest that you and Kate get 
together and compare notes, as we did. It will 
be comforting at least, and may, as it did in our 
case, result in your discovering a remedy. Try 
it, my boy. It can’t hurt you in any event, and 
I really believe it will help you out of your 
trouble.” 

T shall have to ask Kate what he can mean. 


THE END. 


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